The Baby's Got A Secret
by missgraceless
Summary: COMPLETE. DG fic in the view of, mainly, the trio. Ginny has a secret and the trio is determined to find out what it is. IMPORTANT LAST CHAPTER. Upon review, the story's rating has been pushed down to 'T.' BUT DO BEWARE OF LANGUAGE.
1. Default Chapter

Girl Time  
  
Harry sighed as he continued to look out the window at the blur of passing trees. Another year had gone by, and, for once, he had a summer to look forward to.  
  
He would be spending summer holiday at the Burrow this year.  
  
With one more sigh, Harry turned his attention away from the window to his two best friends.  
  
"So, what do you think Harry?" asked Ron. Ron didn't notice the lost expression on Harry's face, but Hermione did.  
  
"You really should take this more seriously," she said pointedly to Harry. "I'm sure you'll agree that Ginny is like a sister to you? Well, she is also one to me. I don't really get along with the other girls at school. She is the only real girl-friend I have."  
  
"Sorry," muttered Harry. "What were you two saying again?"  
  
"You know Ginny's been acting really weird lately." It was Ron who spoke up. "She's been in her own little world since we got back from winter holiday. She's been fending us off with her marks in school, but I have a nagging feeling that she only keeps her marks up to throw us off something."  
  
"We've come up with a plan to get Ginny to spill. She will be spending the summer holiday with me and my parents. Some 'girl time' I guess we can call it. Mrs. Weasley has already owled her approval. She said that since Ginny would only be stuck with the two of you if she stayed, it would be good for both me and Ginny, seeing as I'm an only child. I'll do my best to keep you two posted." Hermione trailed off at the raising of Harry's brows. "What?" she asked huffily.  
  
"I know I'll be going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that you two think she'll tell you what's going on during this so-called 'girl time'?" Harry suppressed a laugh when he saw the 'Duh.' expressions on both Hermione and Ron's faces. "Look, we've been trying to get Ginny to speak for almost a month and a half now. If she hasn't told us anything by now, I don't think she will anytime soon, or anytime during summer holiday. You both know how much she values her independence. If she really does have a problem, then she isn't about to let anyone help her out of it. And if the supposed problem was at all serious, then we can rest assured that she would be smart enough to tell at least Dumbledore about it."  
  
Harry watched as his words washed over both of his friends. Understanding was slowly flickering across Hermione's eyes. Ron's reaction, however, was the antithesis to Hermione's calm one. He must have been holding in his anger (which as Harry reflected upon, never happened before) for quite some time.  
  
Ron's diatribe, even with its shortness, was like a volcanic eruption. There must have been something simmering under the surface before he finally snapped. The question Harry was asking himself, was how he failed to notice this earlier.  
  
"Something is obviously wrong with my sister, and all you can say is 'We should butt out?! I know Ginny is no Cho Chang, but that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve the attention of the Great Harry Potter!"  
  
Harry only gaped. He had no idea where that had come from. Sure he never really looked at Ginny, never spoke to or about her, but it didn't mean he didn't think about her. Ginny, along with Hermione, were the closest things to sisters he ever had. Hermione was the sister he could hang-out with, and Ginny was simply the baby.  
  
Ron growled when he saw Hermione begin to relent to the logic in Harry's words. He took a deep breath, and calmly turned back to Harry. "I'll admit it could be anything, maybe just simple boy troubles. But then again, the Chamber of Secrets began as only boy troubles. Like you said, she values her independence. And I agree that she won't begin to confide in Hermione, or to any of us for that matter, anytime soon. But she didn't tell anyone about Riddle's diary when she realized that she had to dispose of it. No, instead she tried to flush it down a toilet, only for you to find. She hadn't gone to anyone then, what makes you think she will now?" Hermione looked up and Ron paused before he continued on. "I can't expect the two you to understand, but we have to try. Ginny is my baby sister, I almost lost her once, and I will not let that happen again. Not only is she my closest sibling, but I promised my brothers that I would protect her. After the Chamber of Secrets, Percy, the twins, and I, all got a savage talking to from Charlie and Bill. They said that we had to do a better job of making sure the baby of the family was safe. Every time someone graduated there was another one of those speeches. Before the year started I got the worse of those talks. I was alone in it this year, and I will be next year. I don't want to disappoint, and I don't want to risk anything. But like I said, I can't ask you two to understand, you don't have brothers and sisters like I do."  
  
If it was possible, Harry only gaped more. Tears were glistening in Hermione's eyes. Neither of them had ever seen Ron this way. They never took the time to realize how much Ron really cared about Ginny. They misinterpreted his shunning her out of their group as a 'she's only an annoying little sister' gesture; when in fact, he was only trying to protect her. After all, a lot of the things they did weren't exactly considered safe.  
  
Harry met Hermione's eyes, and they both nodded.  
  
"I assume that you've told Ginny about the summer's events, then?" Harry asked both his friends.  
  
Ron and Hermione only looked at each other with shameful expressions. "Don't take this the wrong way Harry, but you seem to be the most," Ron had to pause as he came up with what he thought as a suitable adjective of Harry and Ginny's relationship, ".detached. to Ginny out of the three of us. So we were wondering is you could tell her."  
  
Harry only sighed as he shook his bowed head. 


	2. Chapter 2: Emerald to Honey to Silver

Emerald to Honey to Silver  
  
Harry slowly walked down the long corridor of the train. Ginny was, no doubt, sitting in a compartment at the other end. This suited him fine, since he needed time to think about how he would break the news to Ginny. He had seen Ron receive the wrath of the Baby Weasley many times before. It was very similar to that of the Weasley Matriarch's. He wasn't exactly jumping up and down to receive a dose of his own anytime soon.  
  
A considerable amount of moments later, Harry was snapped out of his focused deliberation by a blond. Harry quickly took in his surroundings. Only four compartments separated him from the end of the train. Pansy Parkinson was yelling at someone in a compartment second from the end. ".hell is wrong with you?! You've been avoiding me since we got back! I should just go get that Weasley girl to."  
  
Parkinson had not yet noticed him. Harry was about to turn around and find a compartment to escape into, when he realized that Parkinson had just referred to Ginny and a flash of blood-red caught his eye. Ginny was in the compartment two doors down from the one Pansy was yelling into.  
  
".do another bat-bogey hex on you."  
  
Harry walked right past a huffing Pansy, and into Ginny's compartment. As he closed the door, he realized that Parkinson must have been yelling at Malfoy, and he grinned. His grin ceased immediately, however, when he looked up into the surprised eyes of Ginny Weasley.  
  
"Can I help you, Harry?" The Baby Weasley was the one who broke the silence.  
  
Harry's tongue was caught in his throat. Only this time, it wasn't because he was afraid of getting a dosage of the Weasley wrath. Harry hadn't really looked at Ginny the entire year. The most recent image of her that he held was one of when they were in the Forbidden Forest near the end of his fifth year. She sure had done a lot of growing over the span of a year. She wasn't short like her mother, but wasn't lanky like her brothers. She looked like she could fit right under his chin. Even though she was sitting down, Harry still noticed her amazing curves. Most of her freckles had faded, and the ones that were left, resembled star-dust. Her hair wasn't the orange color of her brothers, but sort of a surreal blood- red. It was no longer straight and shoulder length like it used to be. It was now long, semi-sleek, and looked silky soft, ending in soft ringlets at the ends. This was who he thought as a 'baby-sister'?! What the hell was he thinking?!  
  
Ginny knew something was up. She didn't know what exactly, but had an idea. The trio had been trying for weeks to find out what was going on with her. They said that she had been acting weird. That she was entering the common room much too late each night, and they had begun to question her 'I've been studying.I've been tutoring.I just went on a kitchen run.' excuses.  
  
When she finally locked her eyes with Harry, Ginny saw something that she didn't like. They just looked at each other like that for a long time. Harry was in complete disbelief that he had been so blind for the past year while he enjoyed the view. Ginny was trying to convince herself that the look in Harry's eyes was something else, hoping that it was something else. She finally tore her dark yet bright honey eyes from his emerald green ones, only to meet molten silver ones.  
  
Harry followed Ginny's eyes and saw that ferret boy Malfoy was standing right outside the compartment, and for once he didn't have his cronies flanking his sides. Harry noticed the way Malfoy was staring at Ginny, and he didn't like it.  
  
"Can we help you, Malfoy?" Harry asked coldly.  
  
Malfoy just continued to stare at Ginny with an expressionless mask. What the hell was going on? Harry was thinking furiously. Then he saw Malfoy's eyes flash in fury. Harry concluded that Malfoy was just looking for Harry to get into another argument like he always did, and when he saw Ginny, he froze in either fear or anger. Everyone knew about the bat-bogey hex. Ginny had gained the respect of almost everyone in the school through that hex. The hex was also the source of many of the insults that were thrown Malfoy's way.  
  
Malfoy finally broke the silence, "Well, what do we have here?" He never broke eye contact with Ginny while he spoke, Harry noticed. "Looks like Weaslette's drooling has finally paid off. Just yesterday I remember reading that valentine to a retreating Potter, and now I find the two of you together alone in a compartment at the back of the train." His brows lifted as he trailed off. "I wonder what your brothers would say. Tsk, tsk."  
  
Ginny didn't say anything. She only stared right back at Malfoy with an expressionless mask of her own. Harry couldn't help but notice the similarities between Malfoy's and Ginny's masks. Where in the hell did she learn how to do that?  
  
"If you hadn't noticed Malfoy, Ginny and I were in the middle of a conversation."  
  
"Apparently." Malfoy finally broke his eye contact with Ginny.  
  
Harry thought he saw flames rise behind Ginny's eyes. "I think you should leave, Malfoy. You aren't welcome here." Malfoy turned to her in surprise. He was expecting a retort, but not that kind of retort.  
  
Malfoy said nothing. He only nodded and backed out of the compartment, maintaining Ginny's eye contact the entire time."  
  
When Malfoy left and the door was slid shut, Harry turned to Ginny. "Well that was much more awkward than usual, wasn't it?"  
  
Ginny only nodded. Harry remembered why he was there.  
  
He looked at his feet and took a deep breath, "Ginny, the reason why." He stopped when he looked up. He found that he couldn't talk to Ginny, much like the way he got all tongue-tied when he still liked Cho.  
  
"Yes, Harry?" Ginny urged.  
  
"I.You.Hermione wanted me to tell you that your staying with her for the summer. Your mum has already approved and everything." Harry was speaking so fast, his words seemed to be tripping over each other.  
  
He began to back away, as he was once again acquainted with the flames that hid behind Ginny's eyes.  
  
"What? Why? Why, didn't anyone ask me? Why didn't Hermione tell me herself?"  
  
"I'm just a messenger, Gin. If you wanna blow a gasket, Hermione and Ron are at the other end of the train."  
  
With that said, Ginny rose from her seat and stalked out of the compartment. Harry couldn't help but notice how Ginny's backside swayed as she did so. 


	3. Chapter 3: The Baby Has Got A Secret

The Baby Has A Secret  
  
The train had arrived at Platform 9 ¾ half an hour ago, and Ginny had just finished saying her hellos and goodbyes to her parents and brothers. She had stepped up to Harry to give him a hug and he went stiff. Her arms enclosed around him in what she thought was a sisterly hug. She stepped away, "You okay, Harry?"  
  
Harry's voice had deepened considerably over the years, so when his next words squeaked out, everyone turned to regard him. "I'm fine."  
  
All of the Weasley boys lifted their brows.  
  
"Well we really should be off now. We live a pretty long ways off, and we want to get home before dark. We're only muggles so it isn't like we can floo or, what was it again dear, ah, apparate like all of you can, so we really should be going." It was Hermione's father who spoke up.  
  
Mrs. Weasley nodded and gave her baby girl one last hug. "You two girls behave yourselves."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes wondering how in the world she had gotten herself into this. As she walked alongside Hermione and behind Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Ginny saw a pair of silver eyes looking in her direction. Hermione turned her head just in time to see who Ginny was looking at. She frowned when she saw that it was Draco Malfoy.  
  
Hermione's frown deepened, when she saw that the two had their eyes locked, and neither seemed to be willing to be the first person to look away. She found this to be a little unnerving, but settled with the more comforting thought that Ginny and Draco were just having a silent power argument. The two hated each other, the two's families hated each other.it made sense; especially after the bat-bogey incident. With that thought Hermione could not hold back a smile.  
  
Hermione saw a slender elegant hand clamp down onto Draco's shoulder. It was his mother. He looked away, and Hermione smiled at the fact that Ginny had won the little battle. Ginny turned to Hermione just in time to see her smiling face in the direction of Malfoy and his mother.  
  
"What's got you all happy?" Ginny asked.  
  
"You won," Hermione replied simply.  
  
Ginny only nodded.  
  
The car ride was a long one. Ginny thought that she had fallen asleep at least three times. When they finally got close enough to their destination, Ginny's eyes widened. Hermione's home was beautiful. But then again, what should she have expected? Mr. and Mrs. Granger were both, what was it again.oh yes, dentists. That was some sort of doctoring thing, and Ginny knew that doctors were usually well off in the muggle world.  
  
Harry and Ron dumped their things onto the floor once they had shut the door to Ron's room. They were both looking forward to a fun and rest filled summer. It was going to be just the two of them. Ron's brothers had all promised to visit sometime during the holiday so that they could get a Quidditch match going on. It wasn't long before Ron noticed that Harry wasn't as ecstatic about this as he was a couple of days ago.  
  
Harry wasn't thinking about the upcoming summer at the Burrow at all. Instead, his thoughts revolved around a pretty little red-head. Harry was a little dizzy with confusion. He always thought Ginny to be a sister, and he knew that it definitely wasn't alright to think that your sister was hot. It was weird how he never really paid any attention to her, yet he knew he was going to really miss her the next couple of weeks.  
  
Hermione sighed as she saw the owl off. Summer holiday was almost over, and Ginny had told her absolutely nothing. They had plenty of fun, she wouldn't deny that. It was nice to have a person you could really talk to around. Ron and Harry might have been her best friends, but at the end of the day they were still boys. They were boys that wouldn't understand half of her problems, because those problems were the kind that only girls could relate to.  
  
She had kept the boys in on everything. Every conversation that might have hinted something, which really wasn't anything. They were leaving for the Burrow in four days, and all Hermione had been able to figure out was that Ginny definitely had a secret. At first she thought Ginny might be having some boy troubles. Maybe she liked someone that didn't like her back. She quickly dismissed that assumption when she realized that 98% of the boys at Hogwarts would gladly whack themselves off in front of the entire Great Hall just to get a whiff of Ginny's hair. Then she thought that maybe Ginny had a secret boyfriend. But why would any guy at school want to keep the fact that they were dating Ginny Weasley a secret? Unless he was much older than she was.a teacher maybe. She had heard that Oliver Wood was seeing a nameless beauty. Or maybe she wasn't even seeing a boy. In the muggle world being gay, lesbian, or bisexual isn't that much of a big deal, but it is in the wizarding world. It wouldn't be that much of a wonder why she would try to keep a secret like that. The assumptions went on and on, but were all dismissed because none of them seemed like things Ginny would do. Then again, why would she keep it a secret if it was something people would think she would do. A very rare occurrence was underway, and that was that Hermione Granger was thoroughly confused.  
  
"Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley cried out at the site of her daughter's blood-red hair. They decided to meet in Diagon Alley since Hermione had yet to get her school things.  
  
"Hey mum," was all Ginny was able to get out before she was engulfed in a tight embrace. Her air supply was quickly cut off when her father and six brothers all decided to join her mother in sharing the love. "I can't breathe." Ginny barely managed to gasp out. Her family quickly let go of her. When Ginny was released she found her self face to face with the one person she did not want to see. "Hello Harry."  
  
"Hey, Gin."  
  
Ginny just couldn't get their last meeting out of her mind. The whole summer, the look that Harry had had in his eyes haunted her. She was over him, and she had been for nearly three years. Harry was like another brother, and she didn't want to hurt him. She hadn't discussed with anyone about anything that had happened on the trip back from school. But she knew that that wouldn't last long.  
  
"Hope you had a nice time with the boys. How close did you come to dying out on the Quidditch pitch? I know first hand how competitive these arses can be. Even Percy goes all out." Ginny feigned a laugh, hoping that her pathetic attempt at normal conversation was believable.  
  
"Yeah, well, who do you think you got it from?" Piped in Charlie. 


	4. Chapter 4: ReddishPlatinum

Redish-Platinum  
  
The Burrow was unusually calm this particular morning. The yearly rush of getting out to Platform 9 ¾ on time, wasn't a rush at all this year. They all had packed three days in advance. Mr. Weasley had made sure that all their things were loaded into the car, which the Ministry had provided for them, the night before. It was so quiet it was almost eerie. It made everyone realize how much they all really missed the twins.  
  
They were all sitting in the kitchen, having breakfast. They consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the trio, and Ginny. Awkwardness was definitely hanging in the atmosphere. In all her years of seeing her children off to school, Mrs. Weasley had never before been able to cook breakfast for her family on the mornings of September 1st. Though she knew that she should have been happy that her yearly stress rate had decreased quite a bit, she couldn't help but feel saddened by it all. The twins might have been obnoxious and loud, but they were the ones that kept the house as lively as it was. Although she scolded them for doing so, most of the laughs were a result of some kind of experiment or prank that the twins had performed on the up-tight Percy. Ron might have been the drama queen of the family, but like muggle soap operas, those dramas got you addicted after awhile. And Ginny. well Ginny was the glue that silently held the family together. Molly had gotten over the absence of her two eldest children long ago, but even then it took her quite some time. Now her two babies were coming close to their times to leave the nest. She didn't favor any of her children. Molly loved them all equally, but somehow she knew that it was going to be much harder for her to let go of her baby girl than it had ever been with her sons. Whether it was because Ginny was the only girl or just the baby, Molly didn't know.  
  
Molly looked up at Ginny just then. She always knew that her daughter was a very pretty girl. But she had never really taken the time to stop and notice just how beautiful Ginny had become. She smiled as she caught Harry staring at Ginny from the other end of the table. She always hoped that something would happen between those two.  
  
"Well, I think we should go then. I know it's pretty early, but why don't we get a head start, for a change?" Arthur was getting tired of the silence. He remembered a time when he used to pray for silence to wash over the Weasley household, now he wouldn't mind taking those prayers back.  
  
Everyone nodded in silent agreement, got up, and headed out to the car.  
  
After dinner the night before, the trio had created a plan to sate their determination to share a compartment with Ginny. Hermione had said that she would make sure that Ginny was close to her on the ride to the station, and Harry said that he would stay with her when Hermione had to go off for Head Girl duties and Ron, Prefect duties. To them, the plan was perfect. So when they all arrived on Platform 9 ¾ , they were quite surprised when Ginny was no where in sight. They said their final goodbyes to the Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and got onto the train and split ways to look for her, to no avail.  
  
Ginny walked through the long corridor of the train. She seemed to be looking for something. She took a second to stop and contemplate something. From behind, a hand closed over her mouth, an arm encircled her waste, and she was dragged away.  
  
Ron and Hermione had just left for Head Girl and Prefect duties. That left Harry all alone in the compartment. Harry would normally be in the company of Ginny, Luna, and Neville. But because Ginny wasn't anywhere to be found, he didn't feel comfortable seeking them out and conversing with them. Though he and Neville shared a dorm, he never thought of them being close, and Luna was Ginny's friend.  
  
Harry just sat in the compartment, contemplating what he was going to do. It wasn't long before he decided he would just look for Ginny.  
  
Harry walked through the corridor peering through every compartment to try and catch a glimpse of blood-red. He was almost at the end of the train when he over heard a few girls talking. ".he is quite handsome, isn't he? I don't know about the rest of you but I'd jump him in a."  
  
Harry discreetly peered into the compartment in which the girls were talking and saw that they were Gryffindors. He recognized them as being only two years below him.  
  
"Eww! I'll admit, he's absolutely gorgeous. But I'd die before I'd let him or any of his house mates know it. He's a bloody Slytherin! Have you know pride in your house, girl?!" Another girl replied with disgust.  
  
Harry snorted with revulsion. A Gryffindor actually thought a Slytherin to be attractive? What in the world was the girl thinking?  
  
"Of course I do...It's just that, he's just so yummy!" the girl pouted. "What do you have against him anyway?"  
  
"Have you forgotten who we are talking about here? The arse knows nothing about us except for our last names. And the sole fact that our last names are not on that precious list of pure-blooded families, he hates us. Forget that we're Gryffindors! The only people he could hate more than us are those that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named call blood traitors-- the Weasleys and the Longbottoms!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"So?! What do you mean, so?! Have you forgotten who you are, your lineage, who your parent's are?! You are muggle-born! If he had his way, you'd be dead!"  
  
Harry didn't really know why, but he wanted to know who the person was that these girls were arguing about.  
  
"Look, he might be good-looking, but then again most of the bad guys are. That's why they're so appealing. And I know this will sound really cliché, but it has to be said. The boy is bad news. He and his family are. You'd leave him alone if you knew what was good for you."  
  
Okay, so only every boy in Slytherin was bad news. Only all of them and their families were. That narrowed things down.  
  
"How do you know he isn't different? Just because his father is evil, it doesn't mean that he is as well! You claim to hate him because he hates you for no reason, when you hate him for no reason in return. You judge him not by his character but his last name!"  
  
"Well what would you expect when that last name happens to be Malfoy?!"  
  
Harry shuddered. This girl was swooning over ferret boy? He thought he might have puked right then and there. Harry took a deep breath and continued to walk down the corridor. He had reached the very last compartment when he began to hear.sounds. It sounded like there was a big snogging session in commence. Not wanting to intrude, Harry turned around and headed back to the compartment. He turned only when he thought he saw a flash of blood-red intermingled with platinum, but just shrugged it off.  
  
Ron was walking back to the compartment that he had left Harry in. As expected, because Hermione was head girl this year, her list of duties was much longer than his own. She had told him on their way to the prefect meeting that she probably wouldn't be able to see him and Harry until later that night at the Beginning of Term Feast.  
  
Ron had not been paying attention at all during the meeting. Just as he had for a good part of the summer, he was thinking about Ginny. Though no one outside of the family really knew it, he and Ginny were rather close. They were the babies, so naturally they stuck together. He would protect her from the twins' pranks and experiments, and she would use her baby-girl charm to get him out of trouble. It was a sort of stab at his pride that Ginny would keep a secret from him. Although there were a lot of things that Ginny didn't tell Ron, he was unaware of it. He was under the rather silly impression that Ginny held no secrets from him.  
  
He really had no clue to what Ginny was hiding from him. Although he had made a big deal about it in front of Harry and Hermione, Ron didn't really think Ginny's secret was anything dangerous. He continued thinking about what Ginny could possible be hiding from him, and soon lost track of where he was going. When he finally looked up, he realized that he was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he had walked all the way to the other end of the train without even realizing it. He turned around to make his way to his to his original destination but was quickly absorbed in thought again. He didn't even hear the noises coming out of a compartment when he passed it, much less the redish-platinum. 


	5. Chapter 5: A New Term Begins

A New Term Begins  
  
Ron, Hermione, and Harry were sitting at the Gryffindor table awaiting Professor Dumbledore's annual Beginning of Term speech. Hermione had walked into the Great Hall expecting Harry and Ron to be seated near Ginny. When she saw her best friends, however, Ginny was no where near them. As soon as she took a seat next to Ron, she asked, "Where's Ginny? Or have you two even found her yet?"  
  
Harry responded by looking pointedly down the table. Hermione followed Harry's eyes and found that Ginny was sitting all the way at the other end of the table. Hermione finally noticed Ron's reddening face when she looked up after catching him clenching and unclenching his fists. "What is wrong with you, Ron?"  
  
Ron only snorted in the direction of where his sister was sitting. Again, Hermione turned her head to look at Ginny's end of the table. It was then that she saw who Ginny was sitting next to and what exactly was going on between them. Hermione looked back at Ron and Harry. Ron still looked like he was about to go over to the boy and pound his head in. Hermione was surprised to see that Harry looked like he was about to do the same. She knew that she and Ginny were like sisters to Harry, but she hadn't known Harry to be close enough to Ginny that he would actually be willing to distort a boy physically just for flirting with her. Then she saw it. While Ron's eyes flashed with overprotective oh-no-that-little-mother- fucker-is-not-flirting-with-my-baby-sister anger, Harry's eyes had something else in them, not just anger but.jealousy. Hermione was beside herself. When the hell had that happened? She just couldn't believe it. After all these years, Harry was finally noticing Ginny. Not Ron's younger sister Ginny, but just.Ginny. She couldn't help the smile that made its way onto her face.  
  
Ron couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was that Creevy boy actually flirting with his sister? What the fuck was he thinking? Ron was pretty sure that he and the twins did a pretty good job of making it clear to the male populace of the school, especially to those of Gryffindor tower, that no one was allowed to touch the Baby Weasley. Ron was absolutely fuming.  
  
"Thank you, Colin." Ginny smiled sweetly at the undeniably handsome young man, that Colin Creevy had grown to become. She also had to fight from rolling her eyes. Ginny wasn't blind, she knew that Colin was handsome. She just never looked at him as more than a friend.  
  
The hall quieted as the doors to the hall opened and the first years walked to the front. As soon as everyone was sorted, Dumbledore stood to give his speech. It was pretty much the same as it was every year, except this year, Dumbledore seemed to have a little sadness in his voice. The twinkles in his eyes weren't as bright as they usually were. ".and so, a new term begins."  
  
Everyone applauded, and the food appeared.  
  
As Ginny raised her goblet to her lips, Colin asked, "So Ginny, would you like to accompany me on the first trip to Hogsmeade?" Ginny almost spit out the contents of her mouth all over Colin's front.  
  
"W-What?" Ginny stuttered in surprise. Did he just ask me out on a date? Oh, shit, he did. "Colin, I real-" Ginny was cut off by a big thump to her right. She groaned as she turned to find Ron at her side.  
  
"Hello Ginny," Ron smiled at his sister. "Creevy," he addressed Colin with a nod and a glare. Colin must have gotten the hint, for he quickly said good-bye to Ginny, promising that they would talk later, and went to ask Hermione for the new password so he could head up to the common room. After Colin had gotten the password from Hermione, and was making his way back down the table toward the doors, he surprised the entire hall by cupping Ginny's face with one of his hands and kissed the corner of her mouth. Everyone in the Great Hall, teachers and students alike, sat with their mouths agape. All the girls couldn't believe that Colin, one of the most attractive boys in school, just showed open affection to a girl that wasn't them. The boys, on the other hand, looked on with both jealousy and admiralty. Ginny Weasley was no doubt one of the, if not the, most attractive girls in school. She was also seemingly unattainable with six older brothers and the great Harry Potter watching over her. The boys, Slytherin included, were jealous of the fact that Ginny might actually be taken, but also respected Colin's bravery at displaying open affection in front of one of her own brothers.  
  
Ginny was frozen in place. He did not just do that! He wouldn't dare! Ron's right beside me. Shit, shit, shit! How the fuck did I get myself into this mess?  
  
Colin had just begun to continue his way up to the common room, when he bumped into someone. Colin looked up expecting to see either Ron or Harry, and gasped as he discovered that it was neither. Colin found himself staring at the cold and expressionless face of Draco Malfoy. Colin braced himself for an insult, but was only more surprised when Draco continued to look over his shoulder before he curtly nodded, and turned to leave the hall. Colin, though relieved, was thoroughly confused, as was the rest of the Great Hall.  
  
"What do you think that was all about?" Harry turned to ask Hermione when noise decided to return to the hall.  
  
"Dunno, but Malfoy was looking right at Ginny."  
  
"Do you think that maybe they have some sort of.I dunno.mutual respect for each other?"  
  
"Maybe." One of Harry's brows rose in question as Hermione answered in barely a whisper.  
  
"Hermione, is everything okay? What do you think is going on?"  
  
"I know this might sound a little far-fetched, but have you ever thought of the possibility that Malfoy might be a part of whatever Ginny is hiding from us?"  
  
Harry gaped for a very long time before he was able to compose himself, "You can't be serious! Ginny knows better than to involve herself with Malfoys. You do remember what happened in her first year, right?"  
  
"Well maybe she is being forced to do something. I dunno, maybe Malfoy has something to hold over her head," Hermione shook her head and looked down at her hands. If Ginny had been hanging out with Malfoy, then a lot of things made sense. Of course she'd hide it from everyone. The Weasleys and the Malfoys hate each other. Their houses hate each other. Hermione couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips, as she thought that if Ginny and Malfoy were really seeing each other, or were just friends for that matter, how much their situation resembled that of Romeo and Juliet's. Ginny's brothers, specifically Ron, would be fitting Tybalts. Although it was Capulet that was the irate father, that part would no doubt suit Lucius Malfoy far better. If Hermione's assumptions about Harry's feelings for Ginny were correct, then Harry would be Paris.  
  
Hermione was snapped out of her deep trance of comparing Shakespeare's most famous play to the most famous family rivalry in the wizarding world when she saw the blur that was Harry get up from the table and walk right out of the hall.  
  
It wasn't before Ron spoke that she even noticed that he was there. "Ginny said that she was going to go back to the common room."  
  
"Ron, what's going on?"  
  
"She never came to you for the password."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I didn't realize that until I sat down and Harry pointed it out to me. Since we have duties, he offered to go and check on her. He said he'd make sure to keep a very close eye on her."  
  
Ginny had just stepped out of the Great Hall and was about to head to. "Hey Gin!"  
  
She suppressed a groan and slowly turned around, "Hello Harry."  
  
"Ron said that you were going to head up to the common room, but you forgot to get the password." Shit, he's right. How could I have been so stupid?! "I was feeling a bit tired myself, so I came to catch up with you so we could walk up together. The password is 'suckleberries'."  
  
Ginny racked her brain for an excuse to get away. 


	6. Chapter 6: GryffindorSlytherin Argument

Gryffindor-Slytherin Argument  
  
Ginny had just stepped out of the Great Hall and was about to head to. "Hey Gin!"  
  
She suppressed a groan and slowly turned around, "Hello Harry."  
  
"Ron said that you were going to head up to the common room, but you forgot to get the password." Shit, he's right. How could I have been so stupid?! "I was feeling a bit tired myself, so I came to catch up with you so we could walk up together. The password is 'suckleberries'."  
  
Ginny racked her brain for an excuse to get away.  
  
"Thanks for telling me the password Harry, but I was actually going to head to the library first. I still have an essay to finish, and I was going to fetch a book that would help me." Ginny was surprised at how well her lie had sounded.  
  
"Oh. Well, I guess I'll see you up later then." Harry said, failing to hide the disappointment in his voice.  
  
"Yeah." Ginny turned and was half way down the hall before she stopped and shouted over her shoulder, "Thanks again Harry." She continued her way to wherever she was going.  
  
As soon as Harry had reached the common room after the episode in the hall, he plopped down onto the most comfortable couch and awaited either Ron and Hermione or Ginny to arrive. Ron and Hermione arrived first.  
  
"Where's Ginny?" Ron asked, completely forgetting to say hello.  
  
"Hello to you too, Ron. She said she had to get a book in the library to finish an essay." Harry replied.  
  
"Did you just get back?" Hermione questioned.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They decided that they would wait for Ginny to arrive. And here they were, still sitting in the common room at close to midnight.  
  
Hermione stood up and the boys' heads snapped up. "I have to start my rounds. I'll keep an eye out for her." With that she walked out the portrait hole.  
  
Hermione made her rounds, all the while thinking about Ginny. She walked for half an hour through empty halls. She decided that she should take a break from thinking about what Ginny's secret was. So, she headed toward the astronomy tower, where she was sure she would find plenty of couples releasing their bottled-over-the-summer-emotions.  
  
Sure enough, Hermione found herself shooing couple after couple out of the tower. Although she was annoyed at the students' blatant disregard of rules, she was also amused to see who was now seeing or no longer who. She had already stopped more than several dozen snogging sessions, when she came across a door that she had never seen before. She hesitated for a second before marching up to the door, knocked, and yelled for whoever was in there to get back to their dormitories.  
  
Nothing happened, so she repeated her actions once more.  
  
Again, nothing.  
  
Losing her patience, she drew her wand while yelling a warning and entered the room.  
  
She was surprised to see that no one was in there.  
  
The room wasn't small, but wasn't big either. It was a square room with four couches, a couch lining each wall. The couch on the south wall was green, the couch on the north wall was burgundy, the east couch was yellow, and the west was blue. Hermione was pretty sure that they represented each house. On each wall was a painting of one of the school founders. Each painting corresponded with the appropriate couch. The ladies were asleep, but the men were wide awake. They looked absolutely disgusted and bewildered. Hermione was under the impression that their expressions were directed toward her.  
  
She jumped when Godric Gryffindor addressed her. "Head girl, are you not?"  
  
"Y-yes, I am, sir." Ginny stuttered.  
  
"Well you're late," Gryffindor had all but snapped.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"You missed them." Missed who? Hermione found herself completely lost. "It was terrible sight, really. And you, the Head Girl and a Gryffindor, didn't even try to prevent it."  
  
"E-excuse me? I really don't understand what your saying, sir."  
  
"She brainwashed him," came the gruff yet elegant voice of Salazar Slytherin. "I absolutely refuse to believe that a boy from such a pure and well-bred family would stoop so low as to consort with one of yours." Hermione couldn't believe her luck. She found herself caught in the crossfire of a Gryffindor-Slytherin argument.  
  
"And what makes you think it wasn't the other way around? Maybe the boy was using a spell. You can't deny that the girl was absolutely lovely, and your boy must have been at least sixteen. You remember what it was to be sixteen, do you not? They have needs."  
  
The two men seemed to be quite caught up in their argument. Seeing this, Hermione decided to make her escape. She quickly and quietly slipped out undetected. 


	7. Chapter 7: Another Weasley Row

(Authors Note: Oops...kinda screwed up last chapter. When Godric spoke, I accidently wrote that Ginny was the one who stuttered. But all of you are smart people. I am sure you knew that I meant Hermione was the one who stuttered.)  
  
Another Weasley Row  
  
Ron and Harry turned to the sound of the opening portrait hole. It was well past midnight and Ginny had finally decided to grace Gryffindor Tower with her presence.  
  
"Where the hell have you been?!" Ron was absolutely seething.  
  
Harry was the only one that noticed that Ginny looked a little winded.  
  
"I'm fine, Ron. That's all that matters."  
  
Harry noticed that she didn't have a book, either.  
  
"What do you mean that's all that matters?! We've been waiting for you to come back from your so-called "trip to the library" for nearly four hours!"  
  
Harry saw flames rise behind Ginny's eyes. He really wasn't in the mood for waking the entire tower up. "Ron, I don't think-" He was cut off.  
  
"If you've failed to notice, dear brother, I am now sixteen. I am no longer the naïve eleven year that needs to be watched over. Don't think that I don't know about those speeches you and the others have almost every year about making sure that the "Baby" is properly watched over. I don't need to be watched over! So you can just take that speech and shove it up your arses!" Ginny's voice rose from deadly quiet to practically screaming.  
  
Ron flinched.  
  
Though Harry felt sympathy for his friend, he was also glad as hell that it wasn't him who was getting yelled at. He only hoped that Ginny hadn't awakened the rest of the tower. His hope was quickly diminished, however, when he found every that Gryffindor was watching the spectacle from the bottom of the stairs.  
  
Hermione rushed out of the Astronomy tower, all the while thinking about what was said between the two male founders. She had slowed to a walk when she had fully exited the tower. Who could they have possibly been talking about? She had gathered that a Gryffindor female and a Slytherin male had met in the room. Met to do what, she had no clue. But from the disgust in Gryffindor and Slytherin's voices she guessed that they must have been doing something along the lines of snogging.  
  
Hermione shook her head. With being Head Girl, preparing for NEWTS, and this whole Ginny thing, she was really starting to get stressed out. She decided to head up to bed and to hold off thinking about anything until tomorrow.  
  
Once Hermione stepped into the portrait hole, she immediately wanted to step right back out. The last thing she needed was to hear yet another row between the youngest Weasleys. She looked toward the stairs and saw that the entire tower was quietly watching the spectacle. When she noticed Harry, she quickly walked to his side.  
  
"So, what's it about this time?" Hermione whispered out of the side of her mouth.  
  
"Ginny came in late, really late. Again."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Just then the portrait hole burst open, and Professor McGonagall stalked in. "What in the name of Merlin is going on here?!" she exclaimed to no one in particular, and then she noticed that Ron and Ginny were standing in the middle of the common room, glaring daggers at one another. "It is almost two o'clock in the morning, and I was in the middle of a rather nice dream. So will either of you please explain why I was awoken from that dream by this." She gestured toward the siblings. Everyone at the bottom of the staircase quickly ran back up to their dormitories. Hermione and Harry saw their chance to escape, and took it.  
  
"Well? Mr. Wealsey? Ms. Weasley?" The two red heads were still glaring at each other, and McGonagall was impatiently tapping her foot.  
  
Ginny took a deep breath, and turned to McGonagall. As she did, she put on a polite and sincere mask. "Nothing is wrong professor. I just forgot an essay at home, and Ron was kind enough to give me a good scolding about it."  
  
McGonagall didn't buy that, and both Ron and Ginny knew it. However, these Weasley rows took place so often that she really didn't care for getting the real reason out of them. "Well then, it's nice to know that you, Mr. Weasley, care about at least one person's education." Ron flinched for the second time that night Or was it early morning? "As for you, Ms. Weasley, I expect a lot more from you. You are one of the top candidates for Head Girl next year, and being irresponsible will not benefit your chances." With a curt nod, McGonagall walked out of the portrait hole.  
  
Ginny glared at Ron once more before stalking up the stairs.  
  
Elsewhere in the castle, the Headmaster was smiling at the person that had just walked into his office. "It's nice to see you, again."  
  
"The pleasure is all mine, Headmaster," was the reply, followed by a respectful bow.  
  
"Please, I am no longer your headmaster. How many times have I asked you to call me Albus."  
  
"Yet, again, Headmaster."  
  
They both shared a laugh.  
  
(Author's Note: I know that the ending to this chapter was pretty abrupt and that the chapter, itself, is kind of boring, so I'd like to apologize for that. When I wrote this chapter, I felt sort of evil, and wanted to leave you guys hanging. The initial plan was to post this up and wait maybe a week or so to continue. Obviously, I changed my mind. I'll try to have chapter eight up by tomorrow.) 


	8. Chapter 8: The Young Visitor

The Young Visitor  
  
(Author's Note: I forgot to write up a disclaimer, so here it is: I own nothing, but the plot. These characters and settings (except for maybe the room in the Astronomy Tower) are all products of the brilliant mind of one J.K. Rowling.  
  
Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been busy with classes. I guess my initial plan worked out after all.)  
  
Harry and Hermione had to practically drag Ron out of the common room and down to the Great Hall.  
  
It had been barely six in the morning, and Ron had already been down in the common room. He had said that he went down there to escape the loud snoring of Seamus Finnegan. But Harry and Hermione knew why he was really there. He wanted to wait for Ginny to come down and, basically, tail her everywhere she went until they left for summer holiday. They would have probably let him do it too, but Hermione had heard a sixth year say that Ginny was beyond angry; she was on the brink of murder. And Hermione knew that that wasn't an exaggeration. So she and Harry hauled Ron down to breakfast.  
  
Hermione and Harry took their seats as they forcefully dropped Ron between them.  
  
"You will not move until Ginny has had her breakfast and left for classes."  
  
Ron sank into his seat at Hermione's tone and mumbled murderously, "Creevy is dead."  
  
Ron was so caught up in his thoughts about how he would kill Colin, that he didn't even notice the new, yet familiar, face that sat to the left of Dumbledore. Harry and Hermione had failed to notice also, for they were too busy waiting for the moment they would have to jump on top of Ron to keep him in his seat when Colin entered the hall.  
  
It wasn't long before waves of students began to walk through the doors and take their seats. Everyone seemed to still be talking about the events of the night before, because none of them noticed the young man sitting to the left of the headmaster, either.  
  
All of a sudden, a dozen or so students had rushed into the hall. They went straight to their tables, where they began to whisper furiously to their house mates. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the all those seated at the head table, looked toward the doors with faint curiosity.  
  
When the doors began to open, everyone hushed; in walked Ginny Weasley, Colin at her side, vainly trying to speak to her. Harry and Hermione yanked Ron back into his seat before anyone even noticed that he had gotten up.  
  
Once Ginny had fully entered the hall, she halted and scanned the Gryffindor table. She saw that the trio was sitting at the end of the table nearest the head table. She took a seat at the opposite end. Colin finally gave up and took a seat next to his brother near the middle of the table.  
  
The young man to Dumbledore's left couldn't believe his eyes. Was that who he thought it was? It had to be. Her hair gave it away. It looked like Little Ginny Weasley wasn't little anymore.  
  
The silence was broken by a cough from the headmaster. It wasn't until then, that the students noticed Dumbledore's guest. "As many of you have already noticed, we have a guest amongst us. For the few of you that don't know who this young man is, I would like to introduce you to the young and talented Mr. Oliver Wood."  
  
While most of the girls swooned, most of the boys stared up at Wood admiringly. Most meant everyone but the Slytherin boys, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger. The Slytherin boys were, well Slytherin. They didn't like Wood for two main reasons. One, he's a Gryffindor. Two, he isn't as pureblooded as they would prefer their company to be. Hermione never thought of Wood as being attractive, and she wasn't a very big Quidditch fan. And although Ginny did think he was good-looking, she also thought he was way too old for her. Not to mention she absolutely despised the team he played for.  
  
"As most of you know, Mr. Wood plays Keeper for Puddlemore United. Now we all know of the unfortunate injury Mr. Wood suffered earlier in the Quidditch season. Since he is forced to be sidelined for the rest of the season, his team has decided to send him out to scout for the team, until he is able to play again. So for the next six months, Mr. Wood will be staying in the castle, searching for the best Quidditch players the school has to offer. Please, make him feel welcome."  
  
With one of his dashing smiles, Wood politely nodded to the students. The girls swooned and batted their eye-lashes. Wood's gaze drifted over the Gryffindor table. He saw that Harry, Hermione, and Ron were looking up at him with pride. He looked further up the table and saw that the one girl that had truly caught his eye, seemed to not notice him at all. Ginny Weasley looked thoroughly bored, and thoroughly sexy because of it. 


	9. Chapter 9: The Old Gryffindor Captain Da...

The Old Gryffindor Captain Days  
  
(Authors Note: Sorry it took me so long to right get the story updated. I've been neck deep in work.  
  
Just to clear some stuff up:  
  
As I said in the summary, this is a Draco/Ginny fic. In the end, they will be together. Have they been snogging? That's up to you. What's unconventional about the story is that there is very limited Draco and/or Ginny POVs. When I do use Draco or Ginny POVs, however, it's only to increase the suspense and to torment the reader.)  
  
Classes had just ended, and Harry and Ron were sprinting down the halls to the common room. Ron had seemed to completely forget about the whole Creevy incident, as did the rest of the student body.  
  
Except for one that is.  
  
In between classes Harry and Ron had managed to narrow down their questions for Wood to only about a million. How was it like playing Professional Quidditch? What exactly was this whole scouting thing about? What's the deal with all those rumors about a secret girlfriend?  
  
When the portrait whole slammed shut behind Ron and Harry, Wood turned toward him.  
  
"How'd I know you two would be the first I'd talk to?" Wood smiled, slightly shaking his head. He really missed his playing days at Hogwarts. He missed that comforting feeling that he always felt once Madam Hootch would sound the beginning of a match. He missed the feeling of knowing that the girls would always keep the points coming and the feeling of knowing that the twins would always be watching out for the team. But most of all he missed the feeling of knowing that his seeker would never let him down, the feeling that he would never lose.  
  
"So, how's it going Wood?" Harry smiled.  
  
"Discounting the fact that I haven't been able to feel my right arm properly in weeks and thus cannot play, everything's surprisingly okay."  
  
"How would our Oliver live without Quidditch? You haven't changed at all Wood," Harry chuckled in response.  
  
"Oh, but it seems that Wood has been able to live without Quidditch. Or at least he's found something, actually more of a someone, to help him do so." Ron winked at Oliver and smiled knowingly.  
  
"Huh?" Oliver was completely lost.  
  
Just then the portrait hole swung open. Ginny stalked into the common room, muttering obscenities about someone. Ginny hadn't noticed the three boys until Harry spoke up.  
  
"Hey, Gin. Wood meet our star chaser, Ginny Weasley."  
  
A barely audible gasp escaped Wood's lips. Even with her second hand robes, she looked exquisite. He still couldn't believe that this was Percy's baby sister.  
  
"Hello, Oliver."  
  
Wood had to suppress a groan. Even her voice sounded sexy.  
  
"Hello, Ginny."  
  
Oliver and Ginny locked eyes for a brief moment, before she turned her head to address her brother. "I've got detention after dinner. Don't wait up." With that she made her way toward the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories.  
  
"Hey, Gin."  
  
"Yeah, Harry?"  
  
"Don't go and start making these detentions a habit. The last thing the team needs is for you to miss practice. We need you."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I know Harry."  
  
As she disappeared up the stairs, the portrait whole, again, swung open as the rest of Gryffindor house began to enter in waves.  
  
Oliver plopped down next to Harry as Hermione and Ron took their seats across from them. They had just entered the Great Hall for supper. Harry and Ron had been bombarding Wood with questions about Puddlemore United for hours now. And as was Hermione, he was really starting to get tired of all of it.  
  
When Ginny entered the hall, Hermione immediately flagged her down. Hermione wanted someone she could talk to, no doubt. Ginny took the seat directly across from Hermione. It wasn't until she actually sat down that she noticed that she was sitting right next to Oliver Wood.  
  
"Oh thank Merlin!" Hermione gasped in relief. "I swear, these three eat, breathe, drink, and sleep Quidditch!"  
  
"Hello Ginny." Oliver smiled at Ginny.  
  
"Hello, Wood." Ginny reluctantly returned the smile.  
  
"They've been going on about Quidditch for hours now. Do they ever stop?"  
  
Ginny chuckled, "In less it has something to do with either food or girls, no they don't ever stop, Hermione."  
  
At that they all began to laugh. As they did so, none of them, not even Oliver and Ginny themselves, noticed that Oliver had swung his arm around Ginny's shoulders and scooted her closer to him.  
  
Someone across the room, however, did notice. He was not at all happy about it, to say the least.  
  
The idiot was laying his hands on something that did not belong to him.  
  
He stared at her laughing form, and felt another pang of jealousy. This jealousy, however, was of a different kind. He wanted to be able to make her laugh like that.  
  
Harry had just finished one of the many stories of Wood's old Gryffindor Captain days, and all of them were almost rolling on the floor laughing.  
  
As if Ginny felt someone was staring at her, she looked up toward Hermione. She saw a pair of grey eyes staring intently at her. They locked eyes. She followed them as they moved down to her shoulder and found Oliver's hand resting on it. She looked back up only to find that the owner of the grey pools was already making his way out of the hall. She looked up at the still laughing face of Oliver. She finally saw what everyone else in the Great Hall, with the exception of Harry, Hermione, and Oliver, saw. She saw that the reason why she hadn't fallen out of her seat from all the laughing was because she was leaning into Oliver's firm chest, and he was unconsciously holding her closer. She shrugged out of his hold. As she did so, Oliver looked at her questioningly.  
  
Ginny stood. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still chuckling about the story. "I've got detention." There was an awkward pause. "I should be going then."  
  
Ginny walked out of the hall. 


	10. Chapter 10: Absolutely Peachy

Absolutely Peachy  
  
Oliver climbed up the boys' stairs and left Harry, Hermione, and Ron sitting together in the Gryffindor Common Room. Dinner had ended about an hour ago, and all of their housemates were already in bed. Oliver was staying in Gryffindor Tower, in a room that was usually reserved for the Head Boy.  
  
"Ron, what's going on?" Harry asked his best friend.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ron tried to look calm and normal.  
  
Hermione sighed and popped her head out from behind her enormous book. "You've been acting really weird, since the end of dinner. You came into the hall absolutely admiring Oliver Wood. Then you came out barely stopping yourself from beating his head in."  
  
"So what's up?" Harry pushed on.  
  
"You two didn't notice then?"  
  
"Notice what?" Hermione and Harry asked in unison.  
  
"Gin and Wood." Ron spat out Wood's name as he clenched and unclenched his fists.  
  
"What about them?" By now, Ron had Hermione's full attention.  
  
"Don't tell me you didn't see the way Wood had his hands all over Ginny." Ron spat out with indignation.  
  
"What?" Harry asked in disbelief.  
  
"Oh please, Ron. Helping Ginny keep her balance does not constitute as having his hands all over her." Hermione rolled her eyes. "If Wood hadn't held Ginny up like that she would have fell off of her seat and right onto her bum."  
  
"I take it you missed the look in Wood's eyes, then."  
  
"Huh? What look?" Harry was completely lost.  
  
"Oh for heaven's sake, Ron! Every straight male that has ever set eyes on your sister has looked at her like that. I dare say that even some of the not so straight ones have done so as well."  
  
"Harry doesn't look at her like that." Ron said matter-of-factly.  
  
Hermione had to fight to refrain herself from bursting out laughing. "Are you blind?"  
  
Harry's facial expression changed from a look of confusion to a look of absolute horror. He looked toward the stairs and reasoned that if he made a run for them now, he might just escape before Ron had the chance to pound him.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ron's confusion was evident in his voice.  
  
No, the stairs wouldn't do any good. He'd be trapped. It would only make things easier for Ron. The portrait hole seemed like a better idea.  
  
"Never mind." Hermione shook her bowed head. She still couldn't believe how stupid Ron was.  
  
***** Ginny ran down the corridor fighting back tears. When she reached the Fat Lady, she could no longer contain herself and slid to the floor. She sat on the cold stone floor right outside Gryffindor Tower, her sobs racking her body relentlessly.  
  
It wasn't until an hour later, that she got up and entered the tower.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning, Hermione was awoken by a sixth year. The girl had looked quite worried and motioned for Hermione to walk out of the dormitory, so as not to awaken her still slumbering roommates.  
  
Hermione quietly got up, put on her school robe, and followed the girl out the door.  
  
After Hermione had silently shut the door behind her, she turned to face the girl. "What's wrong?"  
  
"It's Ginny. She came to bed last night crying. It wasn't until a couple of hours ago that she fell asleep."  
  
"By any chance, do you know why she was crying?"  
  
The girl simply shook her head.  
  
"Thank you for telling me," Was all Hermione could say.  
  
"Classes are going to begin soon. Why don't you wake her up?" The girl suggested.  
  
Hermione nodded. "I'll do that." What in the world could be wrong?  
  
The girl led the way to the sixth year girls' dormitories. Once they both stepped inside, Hermione headed straight for Ginny's bed. She pulled back the curtains to reveal Ginny's tear stained face. She slowly sat on the edge of the bed.  
  
"Ginny. Ginny. Classes are about to start soon. You should really get up now." Hermione spoke softly as she gently shook the sleeping redhead.  
  
"Hermione?" Ginny stirred.  
  
"Yeah Gin, it's me."  
  
"Is it time for breakfast?"  
  
"Yeah, it is."  
  
Ginny sat up and rubbed her eyes. When Ginny's eyes seemed to finally focus, Hermione thought she saw something flicker across them. That something looked like a realization of some sort, like she just remembered something. Ginny looked down at her hands.  
  
"I still haven't gotten dressed myself. I'll meet you down in the Common Room, and we'll walk down to the hall together, okay?" Hermione didn't want to ask Ginny what was wrong just yet.  
  
"Sure, that'd be great." Ginny spoke softly.  
  
***** Ginny and Hermione had just stepped out of the portrait hole. For five minutes Ginny stared at the floor. For five minutes Hermione stared at Ginny. For five minutes they walked in silence.  
  
"Ginny, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing's wrong." Ginny didn't bother to look up.  
  
"No, something is wrong. One of your roommates awoke me this morning, telling me that you spent most of the night crying. What's wrong?"  
  
They were right outside the doors to the Great Hall.  
  
"Everything's absolutely peachy, Hermione."  
  
*****  
  
A month had passed since Hermione had confronted Ginny. Everyone could sense a change in Ginny. She didn't seem to smile as often. When she did smile, it wasn't as bright as everyone was used to. The teachers had sensed it, too. Even Snape found himself wishing that she would smile again. The student body blamed it on Oliver wood. Everyone had seen how the two were during his first dinner at the castle. They thought that maybe he hurt her in some way.  
  
The Gryffindor Quidditch team was walking out to the pitch for practice.  
  
Harry groaned as he saw the Slytherin team walking toward the pitch in the opposite direction. The confrontation that ensued was very much similar to the one Wood had with Flint back in Harry's first year. Only this time, there were no hexes, much less ones that backfired.  
  
"Malfoy."  
  
"Potter."  
  
"Where'd you think you're going?"  
  
"To practice."  
  
"I've booked the pitch."  
  
"And Snape has given us permission to train our new keeper."  
  
Harry just glowered at Malfoy. They seemed to be having a staring match, for the glowering lasted for quite some time.  
  
"Harry let's just go. We can practice tomorrow." Harry turned his head to face Ginny. Harry had finally been able to come to an understanding about his feelings for Ginny. Sure, she was beautiful, but she would always be his little sister. Or at least that was what he was able to convince himself  
  
"Fine, let's go." He nodded to the rest of the team, and they all began to head back to Gryffindor Tower. Before Harry followed the rest of his team, he looked back at the Slytherins. Malfoy's eyes were rested firmly on Ginny's retreating form. 


	11. Chapter 11: There Is No Him

There Is No Him  
  
Once the Gryffindor Quidditch team entered the Common Room, Ginny headed strait for a cushion that was stationed right next to a window. The rest of the team sat themselves in front of the fire.  
  
"I can't believe Malfoy," Ron seethed.  
  
"None of us can," Dean and Seamus responded in unison.  
  
No one seemed to notice that the window Ginny was sitting next to faced the Quidditch pitch, or that Ginny's gaze was directed right at it.  
  
Just then, Wood came clambering down the boys' staircase.  
  
Ron began to clench and unclench his fists. Harry remained unaffected. The rest of the team glanced at Ginny.  
  
"What are all of you doing here? I thought you were going to practice."  
  
"That's what we thought, too," Harry said lamely.  
  
Oliver raised a brow.  
  
Harry took a deep breath and spat out, "Malfoy."  
  
Wood mouthed an "Oh."  
  
"So what are you doing, Wood?" Ron burst out, none to politely.  
  
These outbursts had occurred quite often over the last month. Wood was used to them by now. "I was about to go out to the pitch to watch all of you."  
  
The team glanced at Ginny again. Ron dug his nails into his palms.  
  
Ron was about to say something when Hermione walked through the portrait hole. "Aren't you all supposed to be practicing?"  
  
"Malfoy," Wood muttered.  
  
"Oh." Hermione mouthed.  
  
"Well then, I suppose I'll let you all know a bit earlier than the rest of the school. We're going to be having a Halloween Ball this year."  
  
"You're kidding," Harry and Dean groaned.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It isn't going to be what you two think. People don't believe in wearing costumes on Halloween in the wizarding world. Professor Dumbledore will give the details at dinner."  
  
There was a bit of an awkward silence.  
  
"Well then, I suppose I'll go out to the pitch and check out Malfoy's new keeper." With one last nod, Oliver walked out the portrait hole.  
  
***** The afternoon passed by quite peacefully. Ginny retired to the library saying that she had homework to finish. Seamus and Dean went out to the lake. Harry went out to the courtyard to think of some new team strategies, and Ron and Hermione were alone in the Common Room. Ron was playing himself at chess. Hermione had her face hidden behind a book. The only noise that was heard was from the muttering of moves by Ron and the low sound of bustling chess pieces.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"Hmm."  
  
"Have you found out what's been wrong with Ginny, yet?"  
  
Hermione put down her book. "No, Ron. I'm afraid I haven't."  
  
"Well, what do you think is wrong?"  
  
"I really don't know."  
  
"What do you mean you don't know?"  
  
Hermione sighed, "Ron, we've talked about this before. Every time I try to ask Ginny about what's bothering her, she always manages to elude the subject."  
  
"But-"  
  
"I'm worried about her too, Ron. I'll keep trying, but if Ginny doesn't want to tell me, then she won't."  
  
"Do you think it has something do with, Wood?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh come on, Hermione. You've heard all the rumors."  
  
"Ron, they're called rumors for a reason."  
  
"But it would all make sense, wouldn't it? The rumors about Wood having a girlfriend. Ginny's secret. Everything fits."  
  
"I know it does, Ron."  
  
"Well then, why don't you believe it?"  
  
"Because I just don't think Wood has anything to do with it."  
  
"But you just said-"  
  
Ron was cut off by Ginny's entering through the portrait hole.  
  
"What are you two still doing here?"  
  
"We were just talking," Hermione said with a clearly fake smile.  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Nothi-" Ron wasn't given the time to finish.  
  
"No it wasn't "nothing". If it was, then you two wouldn't have stopped talking once I walked in. Don't think I haven't figured out what you two and Harry have been trying to do. I'm not stupid."  
  
"Ginny we're just worried, is all. You haven't been acting like yourself lately. What's wrong?" Ron's concern was made evident in his voice.  
  
"Nothing's wrong!" Ginny shouted.  
  
"You're lying," Hermione responded calmly. She turned to Ron. "Ron, would you please leave me and Ginny alone for a while. We'll meet you and Harry at dinner."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Please."  
  
Ron nodded and left to look for Harry.  
  
Hermione turned toward Ginny. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing is wrong."  
  
"Stop it. I'm tired of this Ginny. Something is wrong. Everyone knows it. I hate to ask, but does it have something to do with Oliver? Because that's what everyone thinks."  
  
"Oliver? Why is it that everyone thinks I'm somehow linked to Oliver Wood? I don't even really know the man!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you really want to know what's wrong, Hermione? Well, yes. It does have something to do with Wood. It's his fault that I'm so confused. It's all his fault that we had that argument. It's all his fault that he won't speak to me anymore. It's all his fault that I don't know what we have anymore. It's all his fault!" By now, Ginny was in tears.  
  
"Ginny, what are you talking about?"  
  
"Why won't he talk to me anymore? I told him that it was nothing. That it meant absolutely nothing."  
  
"Who's he?"  
  
Ginny only sobbed harder.  
  
"Well have you tried to talk to him?"  
  
"What?" Ginny croaked out.  
  
"Well, maybe he doesn't know what you two have, either."  
  
Ginny began to calm down.  
  
"Ginny, who were you talking about?"  
  
"No one. It was no one."  
  
Hermione sighed in defeat.  
  
***** Dinner was close to an end, and the Great Hall was still a buzz with the news of the Halloween Ball.  
  
Ginny had decided to head up to bed early, and five pairs of eyes watched her as she left. One set was a striking green and another was a striking blue. Two sets were brown, and the last set, the one that followed her out, was silver.  
  
"So, what were you able to find out?" Ron asked Hermione, all the while keeping his eyes on Ginny's retreating form.  
  
"Huh?" Harry asked, confused.  
  
"Nothing really. But it turns out that it does have something do with Wood, though."  
  
"I knew it," Ron whispered triumphantly.  
  
"But it isn't what you think."  
  
"Well then, was it?"  
  
While Hermione told Ron and Harry about their entire conversation, Ginny walked down the dark and empty corridors that led to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
It wasn't long before she heard a set of footsteps behind her. She quickened her pace.  
  
"Trying to run away then?"  
  
Ginny halted and slowly turned around.  
  
"Like you did a month ago?" The owner of the silver eyes continued on as he walked closer and closer to her. "When you ran to him."  
  
"I didn't run to him."  
  
"I saw the way he touched you and the way you-"  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Did he ask you? Are you going with him to the Ball?"  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you? There is no him."  
  
As the young man neared her, Ginny began to notice the semi-dark circles beneath his eyes.  
  
When he was close enough, he reached out a hand to cup her chin. "Do you mean that?"  
  
Ginny nodded.  
  
He sighed in what sounded like relief. "I've missed you."  
  
"I've missed you, too."  
  
"Will you go to the Ball with me?"  
  
"But what about-"  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"I'd love to, then," was all Ginny could say before a set of eager lips covered hers. 


	12. Chapter 12: Never Mind

Never Mind  
  
It was considerably late when the trio had finally gone up to bed. Earlier that night, on Ron's request, Hermione had gone up to the sixth year girl's dormitories to check on Ginny. She had seen that the curtains around Ginny's bed were drawn, and assumed that she was already asleep.  
  
What the trio didn't know was that Ginny wasn't actually in bed. Or at least she wasn't in the one that belonged to her.  
  
Oliver, however, did know.  
  
About fifteen minutes after Ginny had left for Gryffindor Tower that evening, Oliver had decided to follow her. His problem: he couldn't find her. So he decided to wait in the Gryffindor Common Room for her.  
  
He didn't really know why he was waiting for her. He knew that he wanted to talk to her, but about what? He had been thinking about asking her to the Ball, but decided against it. The professors wouldn't be very comfortable with him courting students.  
  
Oliver was so caught up in thought that he didn't notice when the grandfather clock strike twelve. Around two in the morning he drifted off to sleep.  
  
***** They were lying in bed, talking. She knew how bad he wanted her, and he knew that she knew. But he refused to take her. He knew she was a virgin. She had told him several months ago. He wanted her first time to be special. He wanted to wait for her. He wanted it to be the night he married her.  
  
*****  
  
Ron sighed as he continued to look out the window. He had been counting stars the entire night, and for the eleventh time, he had lost count.  
  
Something didn't feel right. He didn't know what it was, but he knew something was wrong.  
  
He turned his head to see that Harry was sleeping soundly.  
  
Ron still couldn't get what Hermione had said a little over a month ago out of his head:  
  
"Oh for heaven's sake, Ron! Every straight male that has ever set eyes on your sister has looked at her like that. I dare say that even some of the not so straight ones have done so as well."  
  
"Harry doesn't look at her like that." Ron said matter-of-factly.  
  
Hermione had to fight to refrain herself from bursting out laughing. "Are you blind?"  
  
He couldn't help but smile. If Ginny was to marry anyone, Harry would be the perfect choice. Although they he and Harry were close enough to be brothers, he still wouldn't mind making it official.  
  
*****  
  
Ginny ran her hands over the green silk covers of the enormous, soft bed. She was lying on her side staring at her reflection in a full length mirror near the bed. She looked at the grandfather clock, and gasped as she saw that it was well past two in the morning.  
  
When she tried to move, the arm around her waist tightened.  
  
"Don't go. Stay here tonight." The young man held her closer as he mumbled sleepily into her ear.  
  
"If I don't go back, then in the morning someone will notice that I'm gone."  
  
He only nuzzled deeper into her neck.  
  
She sighed. She would just have to make sure to wake up early.  
  
"Red?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
He paused, "Never mind."  
  
***** Oliver awoke to the gentle shaking of Ginny Weasley.  
  
"Wood. Wood, wake up."  
  
"Huh? What?"  
  
Ginny smiled genuinely, "You fell asleep in the Common Room."  
  
"I did?" He looked around and took in his surroundings. "Oh, I did."  
  
Ginny laughed, "Well, its time to get up now. It's almost seven."  
  
Oliver nodded as he watched Ginny climb up the girls' staircase. She seemed a lot brighter that he'd seen her in a very long time.  
  
***** Oliver wasn't the only one to notice the sudden change in Ginny. The entirety of Gryffindor Tower had noticed by the beginning of breakfast and the rest of the student body by the end of breakfast. By the end of classes, all the teachers had noticed it, too.  
  
It was late afternoon, and Harry was leading the team out to the pitch for practice.  
  
Harry had come up with some terrific plays, and was eager to try them out.  
  
As they neared the pitch, they saw green blurs dashing through the skies.  
  
"Harry?" Dean questioned.  
  
"Don't worry. Their session will be over by the time we'll get there," Harry said with a bit of authority.  
  
"You sure, Harry?"  
  
"Very."  
  
As they came nearer to the pitch, they saw the green blurs slow down and head to the ground. When they entered the playing field, the Slytherins were just exiting.  
  
"I don't see why you bother wasting you time, Potter." Malfoy sneered.  
  
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you have yet to best me, Malfoy. So you really shouldn't be talking, no should you?" Harry spat just as maliciously back.  
  
"We'll see about that." As Malfoy passed the rear of the Gryffindor team, he addressed Ginny.  
  
"Watch yourself, Red. The last thing we want is for you to get hurt. Someone might need you tonight." And with a wink, he quickened his pace and stalked off toward the castle, leaving both a confused Gryffindor and Slytherin team in his wake. 


	13. Chapter 13: Two Households, Both Alike I...

Two Households, Both Alike In Purity  
  
(Author's Notes: Sorry it took me so long to post this up. I never really believed in writer's block until now. Big thanks to Yen, for helping me with getting out of it.  
  
Just a head's up: the riddle at the end is a revision of Shakespeare's Prologue to Romeo and Juliet. I tried my best to maintain the Shakespearean language, but obviously didn't do a very good job. "Soled"= the only.  
  
I'll be away for Spring Break next week, so I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to update again for another two weeks. I promise the next chapter will be good, though. *Smiles Evilly*)  
  
The team had addressed Ginny about the episode with Malfoy, and she had insisted that she had absolutely no clue about what he was talking about.  
  
A week had passed, and the first Quidditch match of the season was the next day, Saturday. Gryffindor was going to play Slytherin.  
  
The Halloween Ball was in three weeks.  
  
It was breakfast, and Ron had finally gathered up the courage to ask Hermione to the Ball. Hermione had uncharacteristically squealed at the table when he did so.  
  
Harry smiled and shook his head. Hermione and Ron were so much alike that it was almost annoying. They were, both, ill-tempered, very impatient, stubborn, and clueless about all of it. Everyone knew how much Hermione and Ron liked each other; everyone also knew how blind the two were about it. Now instead of having to listen to Ron whine about "Vicky", Harry would have to listen to him babble about his feelings for Hermione.  
  
Harry's smile quickly faded as he realized something. He didn't have a date to the Ball of his own. Harry scanned the Gryffindor table. Who would he ask? He did have one person in mind, but she was absolutely out of the question. Or was she? Harry had repeatedly told himself that Ginny was just a sister, so simply "escorting" her to the Ball would classify as a brotherly act, wouldn't it? Harry smiled. He'd ask Ginny to the Ball. He scanned the table again. Ginny was no where to be seen. Harry shrugged; he'd just have to ask her at practice that afternoon.  
  
***** They watched each other as they walked through the halls, occasionally glaring, so as not to reveal their secret to the rest of the student body. They would brush hands as they walked past one another and whisper words that only they could hear.  
  
***** The Gryffindor Quidditch team was waiting in the Common Room for their star Chaser. Ginny had arrived late to the Common Room after classes, and was barely up the stairs as the rest of the team was coming down them.  
  
"Ginny, would you please hurry?" Ron yelled up the stairs.  
  
"You know she can't hear you," said one of the girls on the team.  
  
"Well then why don't you go up and tell her?" Just as Ron had finished his sentence, Ginny came running down the stairs.  
  
"Okay, I'm ready. Shall we go then?" Ginny smiled brightly as she tried to catch her breath.  
  
Harry stood and led the team out to the pitch.  
  
Once they stepped out onto the grounds, Harry slowed down his paced and fell into step with Ginny at the back of the group.  
  
"Hey, Gin."  
  
"Hello, Harry."  
  
"So what do you think about Ron finally asking Hermione to the Ball?"  
  
"It's about time."  
  
"Tell me about it," Harry chuckled.  
  
There was a slightly awkward pause.  
  
"Is there something you want, Harry?"  
  
"You know you're the closest thing to a sister that I've got, right? Even closer than Hermione."  
  
"Get to the point, Harry."  
  
"Look, I don't want this to come off all wrong, but I don't have a date to the Ball yet. After the whole Parvati incident in fourth year, I don't really think I'm prepared to ask anyone that I'm not comfortable with. So I was wondering if you'd go with me?" Harry was surprised at how calm he sounded.  
  
"H-harry. I'm really sorry. I'd love to go with you, you know I would. But I can't."  
  
"W-what? What do you mean 'you can't'?"  
  
"I mean I can't."  
  
Harry was speechless. What did she mean by "she can't"? He felt slightly confused and angered. Confused, because he had thought Ginny was only a sister to him, and angered because he was jealous of whoever she was going with.  
  
"Oi, Harry! We going to practice or what?" Yelled Seamus from the front of the group. Harry was so caught up in his conversation with Ginny that he hadn't noticed that they had already entered the Quidditch Pitch.  
  
Harry nodded and with one last glance at Ginny, he headed up to the front of the group to start practice. Practice was just what he needed to get his mind cleared.  
  
***** Hermione was bored out of her mind. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were all at practice, so she had no one to talk to. She had read every book in the library at least twice, so there was no use in going there. On a Friday afternoon, Hermione would usually be in the Common Room accompanied by towering stacks of homework. Those stacks of homework were results of begging the professors for advance work. She was so far up on course work that the professors had absolutely refused to give her anymore. So where did Hermione find herself: aimlessly wondering through the halls of the castle.  
  
She began to walk up the Astronomy Tower in the hopes of amusing herself by counting just how many couples she could catch. Thinking about couples led to thoughts about herself and Ron. Hermione smiled. She knew that she had always liked Ron, but she was just too ashamed to admit it. Ron was ill- tempered, impatient, stubborn, and clueless. He was absolutely nothing like herself. Yet, she couldn't stop thinking about him.  
  
Hermione was so engrossed with her thoughts about Ron, that she had completely forgotten why she was walking up the Astronomy Tower. When she finally looked up she found herself facing the door to the room where she had encountered Slytherin and Gryffindor arguing. Unable to fight her growing curiosity about the room and the founders' conversation, she pushed open the door. Daylight was streaming out from the portraits. When she entered, she found that Slytherin and Gryffindor were not in their portraits. The Ladies Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, however, were.  
  
"Hello, young lady. How may we help you?" Lady Hufflepuff asked softly.  
  
"You are Hermione Granger, are you not?" Lady Ravenclaw spoke up elegantly.  
  
"Yes, ma'am. I am." Hermione answered politely.  
  
"Headgirl?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
"If I recall correctly, the sorting hat had almost sorted you as one of mine. You are a very bright girl, or so I have been told."  
  
"Well, of course the girl is bright. She is head girl after all," Lady Hufflepuff spoke up. She looked down at Hermione with warm eyes. "I think I might know why you're here. It's about them isn't it?"  
  
"Do you mean Sir Gryffindor and Sir Slytherin?" Hermione asked.  
  
It was Lady Ravenclaw who answered, "Oh no, dear. Though I must say they argue for hours about the two. Surely you are here about them. They come here often, to be together. But most importantly to escape their names, I suppose."  
  
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I have no idea what you are talking about."  
  
Lady Hufflepuff was the one who spoke this time, "Well, their families do hate each other, and so do their houses. It would make plenty of sense that they would try to escape all that, just to be another boy and girl spending time together, and not a Ma..., well you know what I mean."  
  
"No, I'm sorry, but I don't."  
  
The two ladies exchanged looks. A flash of understanding soon washed over Lady Ravenclaw's face.  
  
"Oh, dear. I'm afraid she doesn't know, Helga. It would make plenty of sense. She is a Gryffindor and is very much close to the girl. She would most likely be completely against what they have, if she knew."  
  
"Please, Ladies. I don't want to sound rude, but who in the world are you two talking about?  
  
"I'm sorry dear, but I'm afraid it's not our information to share," Lady Hufflepuff smiled down at her apologetically.  
  
"If it will be any consolation, we'll leave you with a little riddle," Lady Ravenclaw spoke up.  
  
"Yes, of course. She is close to you. You do have a right to know," Lady Hufflepuff nodded in agreement. "I suppose, we wouldn't really be telling you, if you figured it out for yourself."  
  
"Two households, both alike in purity From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil hands make civil hands unclean. From fatal loins of these two foes A pair of lovers forced behind a veil; A soled lady among seven, An heir to the most cold, One enriched with gold, The other with love, Forced behind a veil To escape their houses' strife."  
  
"We hope that helps you, dear," Lady Hufflepuff nodded to Hermione when Lady Ravenclaw had finished with the riddle.  
  
Hermione, though a little speechless, nodded politely and gave a curt "thank you" before walking out the door. As she shut the door behind her, she realized who "they" had to be. It all made sense now. She looked out a window of the Astronomy Tower, and broke into a run. She needed to talk to Harry and Ron. She halted as she realized something. Ginny would be at the pitch as well. 


	14. Chapter 14: I Wish

I Wish  
  
(Author's Note: I didn't have any homework last night, so I decided to update a little early.)  
  
Hermione ran through the halls and out onto the grounds and stopped just before the entrance to the pitch. She would walk into the stadium calmly and say that she was waiting for practice to end so she could speak to Ron. Since they were going to the Ball together, she doubted anyone would question her.  
  
And so Hermione entered the pitch. Three red blurs were zooming over head. Ron was floating just before the posts, and Harry was floating above the blurs, watching them keenly. The chasers were practicing a new strategy, no doubt. Seamus and Dean were floating on either of Harry's sides.  
  
Hermione made herself comfortable on the pitch grass as she watched the Gryffindor Quidditch team above her. She was never much of a Quidditch fan. Sure she would cheer on Harry, Ginny, and Ron, but that was because they were her friends. It wasn't so much that she wanted the Gryffindor 'Quidditch team' to win, but more that she wanted her friends to win. There was, of course, the House Cup to keep in mind as well.  
  
Before Hermione knew it, Ron had the quaffle. Her eyes had never really been that good at following quidditch games. The chasers had stopped, and Harry was absolutely fuming. From what Hermione gathered, the new strategy wasn't played out as well as Harry wanted it to. Harry was screaming at the chasers.  
  
As Hermione surveyed the scene, she took in the postures of every player. Dean and Seamus had gone to join Ron by the posts. The three sat quietly on their brooms and avoided looking at the chasers and Harry. Harry was screaming and waving his arms around hysterically trying to emphasize the importance of the new strategy to the chasers. In the midst of his yelling, Hermione thought she had seen something. She had sworn she had seen something change in Harry's posture and voice when he had addressed Ginny about having to step up her part on the team.  
  
Hermione shook her head. It was a shame really. Everyone had always thought Ginny and Harry would end up together. They thought so when Ginny was ten and had her little crush on her elder brother's best friend. They thought so even when Harry had briefly been seeing Cho Chang and Ginny had been going out with Michael Corner. The similarities between the picture of Harry and Ginny to that of Lily and James Potter had most of the adults convinced that they would end up together. There was also the fact that the Weasleys absolutely adored Harry. There was no doubt that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would welcome Harry into their family with open arms, and though the Weasley boys would be hard on Harry, it wouldn't be because they didn't like him being with their sister, but more to amuse themselves.  
  
Hermione sighed. Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy. Who would have thought? And just when Harry began to realize Ginny wasn't just Ron's baby sister anymore. Hermione knew that Harry would take the news hard. She remembered what it was like in fourth year, when he had found out that Cho was dating Cedric. How was he going to feel now? A girl who had been under his nose this whole time had finally gotten his attention. The only problem was: she no longer wanted it. Not only did Harry let Ginny slip away from him, but he lost her to Draco Malfoy. The boy he despised, tied for third on his all time hate list with Snape, first and second going to Voldemort and Malfoy's father.  
  
Then there was Ron. Hermione had no doubt in her mind that the first thing he would do would be to hunt Malfoy down and beet him into a "bloody pulp". And after Ginny would successfully hide Malfoy from him, Ron would owl all of his brothers.  
  
"Oi! Hermione!" Hermione was snapped out of her train of thought by Seamus.  
  
"Hello, Seamus," Hermione stood. Seamus, Dean, and Ron were already on the ground and were making their way toward her. Harry and the chasers had just begun to head to the ground  
  
"So what's our head girl up to?" Dean quipped.  
  
"Nothing, Dean," Hermione smiled cheekily. "I'm here to talk to Ron."  
  
"Oh." Seamus and Dean both said in unison as they raised their brows. They turned around and patted Ron heartily on the back. "We'll see you later then, playboy," Dean remarked jokingly.  
  
"What in the bloody hell is a 'playboy'?" asked Ron to Dean and Seamus' laughing retreating forms.  
  
Hermione shook her head is dismay.  
  
Ron came up to Hermione's side and put his arm around her shoulders as he kissed her left cheek. "So, what did you want to talk about?"  
  
Hermione turned her head to see Harry and the chasers close behind them.  
  
"Not here, Ron. Let's go to the lake." Hermione said quietly.  
  
"Sure."  
  
They made their way to the lake in comfortable silence, enjoying the rare October sun. When they finally reached the lake, Ron sat against a big oak tree. Hermione sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.  
  
"So what did you want to talk about, Hemrione?" Ron asked softly.  
  
Hermione looked up into Ron's face and sat up.  
  
She took a deep breath before starting. "You know how we've been worried about Ginny, and have been trying to get her to reveal her secret?"  
  
At this Ron sat up. "Yeah."  
  
"Well, on our first night back, I was doing my rounds and I came across a room. It was a quite marvelous room, actually. There were portraits of all the founders, and when I walked in, Gryffindor and Slytherin were having an argument. I didn't understand what they were saying then, but I do now."  
  
"Well, what did they say?"  
  
"They were talking about a couple that had been snogging in the room. One was a Gryffindor and the other a Slytherin."  
  
"You've got to be kidding," Ron said disgustedly. "What's this got to do with Ginny, anyway?"  
  
"Well, that's what I'm getting to." Ron gave her a look that said 'go on'. "I was walking through the halls this afternoon, and I came across the same room. Only Gryffindor and Slytherin weren't in their portraits, but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were. When I walked in, the ladies began to talk to me and kept insisting that I was their because of a certain couple. When they realized that I had no clue about what they were talking about, they had refused to tell me who the couple was, but left me with a riddle."  
  
"And," Ron urged.  
  
"And I think the riddle says that Ginny is seeing Malfoy."  
  
***** Harry's anger from that day's practice was cooled down a notch as he saw his two best friends make their way toward the lake. He smiled, they were perfect for each other.  
  
Harry turned his head to look at Ginny. She was walking between her fellow chasers and listened quietly as they talked adamantly about the Ball.  
  
"So, who are you going with, Gin?" One of them had asked her.  
  
Ginny looked down at her feet as a light blush crept up her cheeks and continued to walk quietly.  
  
"Oh come on, Gin. Who is it? A Ravenclaw or a Gryffindor?"  
  
"I really should be off, guys. I'll see you later, okay?" With that Ginny hastened to the castle.  
  
"So who do you think it is?" Harry heard one of them ask the other once Ginny was out of ear shot.  
  
"Honestly?" The girl looked back at Harry as she said so.  
  
I wish. Harry thought to himself.  
  
***** Ron could only gape in astonishment. His baby sister and... Malfoy? Hermione had to be kidding.  
  
"Hermione, you've got to be kidding."  
  
It must have been a joke. Hermione was never really good at telling jokes after all.  
  
"This is a joke, right? No offense, but you're not really good at telling jokes."  
  
"It isn't a joke, Ron." Hermione said sympathetically.  
  
"Of course it is. Ginny would never do that. I mean, he's a Malfoy and she's a Weasley. Weasleys and Malfoys don't mix."  
  
"Ron..."  
  
"No, it isn't true. It can't be."  
  
"Just listen to yourself, Ron," Hermione pleaded.  
  
Ron slouched and took everything in. It all made sense really: the secrets, the encounter at practice a week ago. He mentally smacked himself for being so blind. He had been so sure that it was Wood. Malfoy would have been the last person on earth he would have thought of. Ron then began to become filled with rage. How dare Malfoy touch his sister. He was going to beat the living shit out of that bloody ferret. 


	15. Chapter 15: I’ve Found Out the Baby’s Se...

I've Found Out the Baby's Secret  
  
(Author's Note: Here's another long one for you guys. I hope you enjoy it.  
  
I'm sorry about the prose repeated in the dialogue last chapter during Hermione and Ron's conversation. I have my sister read the chapters before I send it in to my beta, and she thought that it would be funny for me to do the repeating. It was supposed to be comical, but obviously it wasn't. Or at least most of you didn't take it that way. As for last chapter's arguments being "uncompelling", I hope I did much better with this chapter's argument(s).)  
  
Hermione vainly tried to stop Ron as he ripped through the halls.  
  
"Ron, please. I really don't think this is the way you should handle this."  
  
"Where is he?" Ron growled as if Hermione had said nothing at all.  
  
"Shouldn't we talk to Ginny about this?" Hermione pleaded. Merlin only knew how Ginny would react if Ron did anything stupid.  
  
Suddenly, Ron froze. His halt caught Hermione off guard, and she had barely stopped herself from walking right into Ron's back.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes. This could mean only one thing. Ron must have found Mal-  
  
Before Hermione finished her train of thought, Ron had begun to stalk forward. By the time Hermione had realized what was going on Ron had already had someone by the neck and up against a wall. Hermione ran up beside Ron. She sighed in relief as she saw who Ron had pinned. Gregory Goyle.  
  
"Where is Malfoy?" Ron demanded in a deathly quiet tone.  
  
Goyle was silent.  
  
Ron banged Goyle's head against the stone wall and raised him higher. "I said, where is Malfoy?"  
  
Goyle again said nothing.  
  
Hermione looked around. Ron had attracted quite a crowd.  
  
"Ron, we should go. I don't think he's going to say anything," Hermione whispered to Ron as she tugged his arm lightly.  
  
Ron slowly set Goyle back on his feet. "Tell Malfoy to keep his hands off what doesn't belong to him," Ron said before releasing Goyle's neck.  
  
***** Oliver was sitting in the Common Room reading a quidditch magazine, when Harry walked through the portrait hole.  
  
"How's it going Harry?" Wood asked in a happy tone. Oliver had been sitting alone for hours, and was glad to finally have some company.  
  
By the look in Harry's eyes, Wood could tell all was not well.  
  
"I really don't want to talk about it, Wood," Harry's voice sounded hopeless.  
  
Wood nodded. He sensed that Harry needed to be alone, so he decided to go up to his room. "See you at dinner, Harry."  
  
Harry plopped down onto one of the couches.  
  
***** "Ron, where are we going?" Hermione asked as she tried to catch up to Ron.  
  
"To Gryffindor Tower," Ron answered flatly.  
  
"Oh, thank Merlin. I'm sure Ginny will have a good explanation." Hermione said thoughtfully.  
  
"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Ron asked, slightly tilting his head to look at his girlfriend.  
  
"Well, that's what you're going to do, right? Talk to Ginny about this," Hermione asked uncertainly.  
  
"Oh, sure," At Ron's words Hermione sighed in relief. "After I owl my brothers and beat that Malfoy bugger's head in, of course."  
  
***** Ginny walked into the room. He was already waiting for her. He was seated on the green couch, under Slytherin's portrait. As she made her way to the couch opposite his, he couldn't take his eyes off her.  
  
When she reached the burgundy couch, she turned to face him and sat down slowly. When her bum reached the cushion, she crossed her legs seductively and laid back into the couch. She rested her hands in her lap.  
  
"So, how was practice?" He asked her, his desire for her evident in his eyes.  
  
Ginny looked down as she remembered the events that took place during practice.  
  
He sensed that something was wrong. "Did something happen?"  
  
Ginny looked up and smiled, "No, I'm just sad to say that I'm going to have to humiliate you and your teammates tomorrow."  
  
At this he smirked and rose from his seat. "Is that so?" He began to walk toward her.  
  
Ginny smiled and nodded slowly. When he reached her, he bent down his head. There noses were barely touching.  
  
"Are you sure about that, Red?" He asked with a glint in his eyes.  
  
"Very much so," She whispered back seductively.  
  
"We'll see about that," He smirked and captured her lips for a deep kiss.  
  
***** Harry sat staring into the fire in deep thought, when the entrance to the portrait whole slammed open. He turned to see Ron stalk into the tower and Hermione follow closely behind him. Harry could sense Ron's fury and Hermione's hopelessness and frustration.  
  
"Ron, think about this. Think about Ginny. What do you think she's going to do when she finds out that her brothers are orchestrating to kill her boyfriend?!"  
  
"Boyfriend?" Harry whispered in disbelief.  
  
Ron turned around to face Hermione. "Well, it's not like she shouldn't be expecting it! She knows how much I despise him. She knows how much dad despises his father. And dad doesn't hate anyone. He made fun of my mum in fifth year, and did he get punished for it? NO! Instead, Harry and the twins got banned from quidditch. Ginny isn't stupid. She knew what she was getting into by seeing a Malfoy! She knew that I would be angry. She knew that my brothers would be angry, and she definitely knew my parents would be angry."  
  
"That's still no excu-"  
  
Hermione was cut off by Ron abruptly turning and stalking up the boys' staircase.  
  
She sighed in defeat and walked over to a couch. Uncharacteristically, she plopped down and slouched deep into the cushiony comfort.  
  
It wasn't until she heard someone whisper "Malfoy" in disbelief that she looked up and noticed Harry. Hermione groaned. How in the world was she going to explain this to Harry?  
  
Up in the Seventh Year Boys' Dormitories a quill was scribbling the same message onto a different piece of parchment for the fourth time.  
  
Brothers,  
  
I've found out the Baby's secret. Our dear sister seems to be seeing a Slytherin. Meet me in the Common Room at dinner. I'm sure the twins know a way to sneak in.  
  
Ron  
  
Ron had already addressed one of the messages to the twins, another to Bill, one to Charlie, and this last one was meant for Percy.  
  
Ron sealed the last piece of parchment and picked up the others. He stood and checked the time. It was a quarter past five. Dinner was at seven. Ron quickly decided that an hour and forty five minutes should be enough. He then ran out of the room and made his way to the owlry.  
  
***** Hermione looked worriedly at Harry as he picked at his food. It was dinner and both Ron and Ginny were absent from the hall. Hermione couldn't help but notice that Malfoy was no where to be found as well. After Ron had come running down the boys' stairs and out of the tower, Hermione had told Harry what she had learned about Ginny. At first he reacted much like Ron had. First he was in denial, and then he became furious. Predicting that this would happen, Hermione was prepared.  
  
"They must really care about each other to risk everything they have by being together, don't you think?" She had said. "Ginny loves her family way too much to ever hurt them, so you know that she must have a really good reason as to why she is seeing Malfoy. And Malfoy, if, well when, his parents find out, they'll probably disown him. Thus, leaving him with nothing. No money, no home, not a thing. Even his name would be tarnished."  
  
Hermione knew that what she said to Harry must have really hurt him. But she had to say it, because it was most likely true. It was bad enough Ginny would have six brothers to contend with, the last thing she needed was a broken hearted, jealous, supposed brother on her back as well. Besides, the earlier she told him, the more time he would have to get over it.  
  
Hermione's head shot up as she suddenly realized something. Gryffindor had a quidditch match the next day. She closed her eyes and prayed that whatever happened today, wouldn't affect their chances of winning tomorrow.  
  
***** Up in Gryffindor Tower, all six of the Weasley boys were sitting around the fire.  
  
They had arrived about an hour and a half after the owls were sent, and weren't happy to say the least. When they were all seated, Ron had filled them in on what he had learned.  
  
"How could Ginny do such a thing?" Percy had asked, shocked.  
  
"I have no idea," Ron shook his bowed head.  
  
"He's probably got her brainwashed or something," Fred put in.  
  
"Yeah, or maybe he's holding something over her," offered George.  
  
At George's words Ron's head snapped up. Charlie, Bill, and Percy noticed this.  
  
"What's wrong, Ron?" The three asked in unison.  
  
"Hermione. She had thought the exact same thing on our first night back."  
  
"What?" This time all five of his brothers asked.  
  
"During the Beginning of Term Feast, something happened, and I heard Hermione say something about Ginny and Malfoy." Ron slouched and buried his face into his hands. "How could I have been so stupid? The signs were right fucking there."  
  
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Ron," said Charlie. "None of us would have guessed this."  
  
"Charlie's right," Bill nodded. "Look, dinner is almost over. When Ginny comes back, we'll talk to her about this."  
  
Just as Bill finished his sentence, the door to the portrait whole slowly opened. Six heads turned toward the entrance.  
  
Ginny Weasley came walking into the Common Room humming a tune. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the six heads of red hair staring straight at her.  
  
"Hello, Ginny," Fred said with a clearly fake smile.  
  
"Hi," Ginny said apprehensively.  
  
"So, how's our dear sister doing?" George said with just an equally fake smile as his twin.  
  
"What are you all doing here?" Ginny asked suspiciously.  
  
"Can't we visit our two youngest siblings, just because?" Charlie asked with way too much cheer.  
  
At the mentioning of her youngest brother, Ginny turned her head and locked eyes with Ron.  
  
"Hello, Ginny," Ron said dryly.  
  
"Did you bring them here?" Ginny asked flatly.  
  
"Yes, I did."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Ginny, you know who Pansy Parkinson is, right?" Ron asked rising from his chair.  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"You don't like her do you?"  
  
"Well of course I don't. Ron, cut the crap already. Why did you bring them here?"  
  
"You don't like her because she has given you, our family, and the rest of Gryffindor hell, right?" Ron went on as if Ginny had said nothing.  
  
"Ron, I don't understand, what are you-" Ron cut her off.  
  
"Well what if I told you I was dating her?"  
  
"What?" Ginny spluttered taken aback. When she regained her composure she said to no one in particular, "You've got to be kidding."  
  
She looked up at Ron, "What the hell are you thinking? What about Herm-"  
  
Ron looked Ginny in the eyes and said, "You tell me."  
  
"W-what?" Ginny stuttered in confusion.  
  
"We know that you're seeing Malfoy, Ginny," Charlie stood from his seat to stand at Ron's side.  
  
"Wait, so you're not seeing Parkinson?" Ginny directed to Ron. At her brothers' looks she sighed and asked, "How'd you all find out? Do mum and dad know as well?"  
  
"Ginny what in the bloody hell are you thinking? You know what sort of people the Malfoys are." George stood.  
  
"Draco's different," Ginny stated, looking toward Bill.  
  
"Don't even try to feed us that crap, Ginny," Fred stood by his twin.  
  
"Have you forgotten about your first year? What the boy's father did to you?" Percy stood next to the twins.  
  
"He had nothing to do with that!" Ginny yelled, again in her eldest brother's direction.  
  
"You can't honestly believe that?" Ron shouted.  
  
Charlie moved to kneel in front of his sister and took her hands in his, "Ginny, I understand that you must really care for Malfoy, otherwise you wouldn't risk hurting your family like this. But don't you see? He's only using you."  
  
"What!" Ginny yelled appalled as she ripped her hands out of her brother's.  
  
Charlie remained kneeling and pleaded up into his sister's eyes, "You-Know- Who has something big planned. Everyone knows that. And Malfoy's dad was You-Know-Who's right hand. It's only fitting that Malfoy picks up where his dad left off. How do you know he's not just using you to move his way up within You-Know-Who's ranks?"  
  
Tears were beginning to form in Ginny's eyes. "He'd never do that. I can't believe you'd suggest such a thing."  
  
"Don't be so naïve Ginny. You're the baby sister of the Great Harry Potter's best friend. You're the baby girl of the closest thing to a family Harry's ever had. You're the perfect bait. Don't you see!?" Percy yelled.  
  
"No. You don't even know him," Ginny was on the brink of tears.  
  
"We know him enough, to keep you away from him," Charlie said softly.  
  
"You can't keep me from him. He'll find a way to get to me."  
  
"Not if we can help it," the twins declared in unison.  
  
Ginny turned to address Bill. "He's nothing like his father. Nothing," tears were now flowing freely down Ginny's cheeks. "I love him."  
  
"Bull-" Ron was cut of by his eldest brother.  
  
"Shut it, Ron. Can't you see Ginny's in love." Bill stood and walked toward his sister. "Are you sure about him, Gin?"  
  
Ginny nodded, "Very."  
  
The twins, Percy, Ron, and Charlie all stared at Bill as if he was sprouting wart covered wings. He couldn't be approving of this.  
  
"I will not stand for this, Bill. What are mum and dad going to say?" yelled Percy indignantly.  
  
Bill ignored Percy. "Are you sure, Ginny? He can really hurt you, us, our cause."  
  
Bill's brothers looked on shocked.  
  
Bill went to kneel in front of Ginny, so Charlie moved away.  
  
"Bill you can't be serious?" Spluttered Charlie.  
  
"I can't say I approve of this Gin. But if it's what makes you happy-"  
  
Ron took an angry step forward. "Look, I don't know about you Bill, but if you continue to see Malfoy, Ginny, then," Ron paused and looked around at his other brothers, "I'll no longer call you my sister."  
  
At this Ginny snapped her head up and Bill whipped his head around to stare at Ron.  
  
Percy, the twins, and Charlie moved to Ron's side. They all took one look at each other and Charlie stepped forward. "I hate to have it come to this Gin, but we're with Ron on this."  
  
Bill looked back to his sister.  
  
Her face was filled with hopelessness, confusion, and hurt.  
  
"Ginny, don-" Bill was cut off by a wave of Ginny's hand.  
  
"No, Bill. I don't want to hear it." Ginny looked up at the rest of her brothers. She was surprisingly calm and the tears had stopped flowing. "If that's the way you feel, then fine. I'll stop. You know I'd rather die than lose my family. But do know that I will never look at you five the same way again."  
  
The Weasley boys could only stare in silence at their sister.  
  
Just as Ginny finished, the entrance to the portrait hole swung open, and waves of Gryffindors began to file into the Tower. 


	16. Chapter 16: A Clinic

A Clinic  
  
As one should expect, everyone was thoroughly surprised to see all the Weasley children gathered in the common room. Any student's attempt at asking a question, however, was stopped at the sight of Ginny's tear- stained face. Seeing that the Weasleys were having a "family-only" sort of moment, everyone quietly went up to their dormitories. Everyone but Harry and Hermione, that is. All was silent, except for the shuffling of feet.  
  
Scanning the scene before her, Hermione deduced that Ron had already told his brothers the news. Hundreds of possible scenarios flashed through her mind. Please say they didn't do anything stupid, please.  
  
The stony silence was finally broken when Fred noticed the two spectators. "Oi! Hello Harry, Hermione."  
  
Before anyone else had the chance to react, Ginny took a step back from her eldest brother, and made her way up to bed.  
  
Everyone's eyes followed her as she did so.  
  
When Hermione thought Ginny was out of earshot, she turned to look pointedly at Ron. "What did you do?" she asked with a none too gentle voice.  
  
"It's none of your business, Hermione." Ron closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and rubbed his temples.  
  
"Well isn't it?" Bill stood to face his brothers. "They're just as a part of this family as any of us." He paused, seeming to attempt to reign in his temper. It didn't work. "What in the hell were all of you thinking? Giving her an ultimatum like that?"  
  
"We were only trying to protect our sister, Bill," Charlie defended.  
  
"Oh, really? Well, what if she had chosen Malfoy instead? What then?" Bill shouted at his brothers.  
  
"But she didn't," Percy said matter-of-factly.  
  
"You gave her an ultimatum?" Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs.  
  
"Yeah, they did," Bill turned to look at Hermione. "It was Ron's idea. Either her brothers or Malfoy."  
  
"What?" Hermione shouted.  
  
"Hermione, you should really quiet down. The whole Tower can hear you," Ron tried in vain to calm her down.  
  
"Quiet down? You're her brothers!" Hermione stated indignantly.  
  
"Yes, we are, and we care about her. That's why we did it," Ron tried to explain.  
  
"Brothers that claim to care about her, and then threaten to deny her?" Hermione looked over the five Weasley boys, who in turn, looked down at their feet. "What is wrong with all of you?"  
  
Seeing that she wouldn't receive a legitimate response, Hermione huffed and stomped up the stairs to her dormitory.  
  
After the slamming of a door was heard, Percy took a deep breath and sat on one of the couches. "We still haven't told mum and dad yet."  
  
Fred snapped his head up and looked at Percy in shock. "Are you kidding? Do you want dad to get sent to Azkaban?"  
  
"Dad'll kill Malfoy's dad for sure," George backed his twin.  
  
"Well they'll find out one way or another," Percy stated the inevitable.  
  
Silence, once again, engulfed the common room.  
  
***** Ginny lay in bed, crying. Her roommates had been awake when she had entered, and they had all looked very worried. But because her curtains were drawn, and a silencing spell was cast upon her four-poster bed, no one could hear her sobs.  
  
***** Draco's eyes snapped open. He had been rolling around in bed for the past hour. He knew something was wrong.  
  
He turned his head to look at the mirror near his bed. His hair fell in soft strands around his face, as he stared into his steely grey eyes. The silk bed sheets were tangled around his legs, and they still felt a little damp with sweat from earlier that night. The damp sheets drew his thoughts toward the fiery red head that helped him get them damp. He sat up to look at the scrap of green cloth that she had forgotten on his desk and couldn't help the fluttering in his stomach. He shook his head and chuckled softly. Who would have thought that a Malfoy could love? Much less love a Gryffindor?  
  
He laid back down into the soft sheets and wondered if she was okay.  
  
***** In the common room, the Weasley boys were awaiting to escort their sister to breakfast. The night before, they had all paid a visit to Dumbledore. He had allowed them to stay in Gryffindor Tower for as long as they wanted.  
  
Ginny's brothers weren't the only people waiting for her; the Gryffindor Quidditch team was waiting as well. Since Harry had become captain, it was customary for the team to have breakfast together. Hermione was waiting, too.  
  
When Ginny had finally come down, she was clearly unhappy. Her fellow chasers(,) were unsure if she was fit to play. But when they addressed her about the issue, she assured them that she was alright.  
  
When Ron, Percy, the twins, and Charlie tried to greet her, Ginny ignored them. She walked right past them and went straight to Bill. "Shall we go to breakfast, then." She smiled toward her eldest brother, Hermione, and her teammates.  
  
Bill nodded, and they all headed down to the Great Hall.  
  
***** As they entered the hall, Ginny could feel Draco's eyes follow her. There was no doubt that Goyle had informed him about his incident with Ron.  
  
She felt a strong hand clamp down on her shoulder and looked up to see Bill staring in the direction of the Slytherin table. Ginny looked around her eldest brother and saw that her five other brothers were doing the same, only much more maliciously.  
  
She sighed. They must really mean it, then, she thought. As she continued walking toward the Gryffindor table, she kept her eyes forward.  
  
Ginny knew that if she confronted Draco about her situation, he would do something stupid. So, her plan was to just ignore him until she could think things through.  
  
Ginny wasn't as worried about what her family would do about her relationship with Draco, but more about what Draco's parents would do. Sure, her family would probably threaten to disown her, but only threaten. There was no doubt in her mind, that they would learn how to accept their relationship over time.  
  
Draco's parents were a different story. She wasn't worried about Draco being thrown out onto the streets, or anything like that. Though Lucius would no doubt threaten to disown Draco, Ginny highly doubted that Lucius would do so. Since Draco was Lucius' only heir, he would certainly fight his hardest to keep his son. Lucius would resort to anything to continue the Malfoy line, including threatening Ginny's life.  
  
***** Draco watched Ginny as she took a seat with her brothers, her teammates, and Granger. She was ignoring him, and it frustrated the hell out of him.  
  
On their way to the hall, Goyle had told him about his incident with Weasel. Her brothers had found out about them, and must have said something to her.  
  
It wasn't as if Draco wasn't expecting something like this to happen. He knew that Ginny's family would find out about their relationship eventually, and he also knew that they wouldn't be too happy about it. He didn't think they would do anything drastic though--something drastic enough to cause Ginny to ignore him, anyway. What in the bloody hell did they say to her?  
  
Throughout breakfast, Draco kept his eyes fixed on Ginny, hoping that she would acknowledge him in some way or another. She didn't. She had kept her eyes on her food the entire time.  
  
Breakfast had ended and everyone was beginning to make their way to the Quidditch Pitch. When Harry had begun to lead his team out of the hall, Draco seized a chance to try and get close to Ginny. He called for his team to head for the pitch as well. Draco had hopped that on the way out of the hall, he would be able to brush arms or make eye contact with her.  
  
Seeing both quidditch teams rise at about the same time, the students had all cleared a path for them. Draco kept his eyes on Ginny, who kept her eyes on the floor. Both teams were almost at the doors, when Ginny finally looked up at him. Just as Draco met Ginny's eyes, Harry stepped in front of him.  
  
"Malfoy," Harry nodded toward Draco dryly.  
  
"Potter," Draco nodded back just as dryly.  
  
A flame of jealousy shot up Draco's spine as he saw Harry put an arm around Ginny and whisper something into her ear. The whole time, Ginny stared into Draco's eyes helplessly.  
  
"Well, well, well. It seems Weaslette has finally got her wish to come true," he said, sneering. He looked at her brothers and saw how approval shined in their eyes as they looked on at Ginny and Harry. "And it seems that the Weasels have finally got theirs as well." He raised a brow toward the Weasley boys, who, in turn, glared at him.  
  
***** Both teams got into position for the start of the match. The keepers went to their posts, the chasers and beaters formed a circle, and the seeker floated just above the circle.  
  
Draco desperately wanted to talk to Ginny, but she was, once again, avoiding him.  
  
"I want a nice, clean match from all of you," Madam Hootch, looked around the circle of players, and pointedly glared at the Slytherin beaters. "Especially from you two." With one final nod, Madam Hootch blew the whistle and tossed the quaffle into the air. The game had begun.  
  
Ten minutes into the game, the Gryffindor stands erupted for what seemed like the hundredth time since the match had started. Ginny Weasley was putting on a clinic. Gryffindor was leading Slytherin 250-0. Of the 250 Gryffindor points, Ginny was responsible for 220.  
  
Draco looked down just in time to see her score, and listened for the score. When he heard just how much his team was losing, he was torn between screaming at his keeper and smiling for Ginny.  
  
A pair of frantically waving arms drew Draco's attention. The Slytherin keeper was trying to signal something. Draco glanced at Harry, and saw that he hadn't noticed anything. Draco saw his keeper point forward with his nose. Draco smirked as he saw the snitch no more than two meters from the goal posts. Before Harry new what was going on, Draco was already halfway to the snitch.  
  
On the other side of the pitch, Ginny had just stolen the quaffle from a Slytherin chaser. She was flying at full speed toward the Slytherin goal posts.  
  
Ginny, not noticing Draco, saw that the Slytherin keeper was distracted and tossed the quaffle through an unguarded hoop. Just as Draco reached out his arm toward the snitch, Ginny finally noticed him and skidded into a halt.  
  
After Draco had securely curled his fingers around the snitch he looked up to come face-to-face with Ginny.  
  
They locked eyes, and the entire pitch looked on with silence. A good two minutes later, Ginny finally broke eye contact to take notice of the flittering snitch within Draco's right hand. She then looked to her right to find that all her brothers were staring directly at her. Ron, Charlie, Percy, and the twins looked furious, and took off for the stairs toward the ground. Ginny looked helplessly at Bill, who gave her a sympathetic look. Ginny took a deep sigh and with a single tear roll down her face, she quickly headed to the ground.  
  
Draco saw the tear and looked toward where Ginny had been staring. He saw a flash of red hair begin to descend the stairs, he made frustrated growl and quickly made his way to the ground in hopes of catching Ginny before her brothers did.  
  
Just as Draco reached the ground, the Gryffindor stands erupted as they realised who had won the match.  
  
"Malfoy catches the snitch, but Gryffindor defeats Slytherin 260-250!" bellowed the student commentator.  
  
Draco was running in the direction Ginny had headed, but just as she came into view, he was forced to come to a stop when five sets of red hair went to block his path. 


	17. Chapter 17: Stupid Analogies

Stupid Analogies  
  
Harry, still floating in the air, looked on as Draco ran after Ginny and was stopped by her brothers. He looked down at his hands. Gryffindor had won, but he had lost—in more ways than one. He looked farther (toward the castle) and saw Ginny tearing through the grounds toward the castle.  
  
Harry began to shake his head and took a deep sigh. He began to head to the ground slowly, all the while asking himself just why he was helping a Malfoy.  
  
Ginny ran toward the castle in tears. She didn't usually cry, but in the past twenty-four hours alone, she'd cried at least three times. With six older brothers, you'd think she would have learned how to simply reign in tears.  
  
Once she entered the castle, she contemplated whether she should run up to her Gryffindor tower and lock herself in her dorm, or go to the founders and ask for advice.  
  
She began to run toward the Astronomy Tower.  
  
"Hello, Malfoy!" The twins said in unison, too cheerful to be real.  
  
Draco sneered. "Good-bye Weasleys." He moved to walk right past them, but was grabbed by Charlie.  
  
"Now, now, Malfoy. What would your mother say if she learned of your rudeness?" Charlie queried.  
  
"Peasants, Weasley, are fair game," Draco drawled.  
  
"Peasants, are we?" Percy raised a brow.  
  
"Lower," Draco leered and shrugged out of Charlie's grasp. He began to turn around to make his way toward the castle, but halted as Ron shot him a question.  
  
"Well then, if we, Weasleys, are lower than peasants, would you mind explaining to me, what is it you find so special about the baby Weasley?" Ron's words were dripping with disdain.  
  
Draco turned slowly to face Ron. He stalked back toward the semi circle that the Weasleys had formed and said deathly quiet and all too seriously, "She won't be a Weasley for much longer."  
  
When Draco's words clicked, Ron heaved his right fist toward Draco's left cheek. Thanks to his quick seeker reflexes, however, Draco caught Ron's fist just before it made contact.  
  
"You won't live to see the day," Ron spat furiously. "I'd rather die than have my sister be hurt by a Malfoy." Ron took what looked like a calm step back. Draco was very surprised by this and thus, he got caught off guard when Ron went to tackle him to the ground. Ron had Draco on his back, throwing his best punches at him.  
  
"That was – the most dirty – strategic bullshit – I have – ever – seen," Ron said, in between punches.  
  
Draco had managed to throw one good punch at Ron before the other Weasley boys dragged their brother off of him.  
  
Draco stood. He brought a hand up to the corner of his mouth. When he drew it away, it was stained with blood. He looked up to glare at Ron. "Strategic bullshit?"  
  
"Oh, please. We know that you're using Ginny for your own sick purposes. To 'get ahead of the game' I guess you could say," Percy spat out, in a mixture of disgust and hatred.  
  
"What in—" Draco wasn't able to finish. The twins had decided at that moment to have their go at him.  
  
They had thrown a good amount of well placed punches, before Bill and Harry stepped in. They each took a hold of a twin and yanked them off of Draco.  
  
Both of Draco's eyes were turning a bit purple and his left cheek was already beginning to swell.  
  
Bill tuned angrily to look at Charlie. "You just stood there, and let them do this?" He yelled at his younger brother.  
  
"Oh shut up, Bill. You sound like mum," Charlie replied warily. "Besides, he deserved it."  
  
"Well, when Ginny sees her plum-faced boyfriend, you'll be the one to explain what happened," Bill said angrily to Charlie.  
  
Bill turned to look down at Draco's beaten face. He found he couldn't though, because Harry was already bent over him. Bill thought for a second that maybe Harry would want to get a piece of Draco for himself and start to throw punches. He sighed when Harry merely turned to comment on his brothers' handiwork. "You really did a number on him."  
  
There was a loud gasp, and all the boys turned just in time to see Pansy Parkinson screech.  
  
Ginny walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She looked around the room, and realised only one founder was present in his portrait. Godric Gryffindor looked down at Ginny with a mixture of gentleness and confusion.  
  
"Arthur's youngest?" He raised a brow in Ginny's direction.  
  
"Yes, sir. I am."  
  
"Only daughter?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Do you love your father?"  
  
"Yes, sir. I do very much."  
  
"Do you love your house?"  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"Then... why."  
  
"Excuse me, sir?" Ginny asked, knowing perfectly well what he was asking.  
  
The man snorted. He knew she knew. "Why are you willing to risk your family and friends, for this boy?"  
  
Ginny looked down at her hands. "I don't know, sir. I was hoping you could help me with that."  
  
A knowing spark flashed over the founder's eyes. "Are you not worried about how his family is going to feel, how they are going to react?"  
  
"Of course I do. I just..." Ginny looked down at her feet hopelessly.  
  
"Miss Weasley, let me tell you a story." Gryffindor gestured for Ginny to sit down on the Ravenclaw sofa. She nodded and obeyed.  
  
"When the school was first built, my fellow founders and I were very, very close. Salazar and I used to be the best of friends and so were Helga and Rowena. But as you have already seen, only Helga and Rowena were able to maintain that friendship." Gryffindor paused, and Ginny looked up at him expectantly.  
  
"Miss Weasley, do you know why Salazar and I grew apart?"  
  
"Because of his growing evil ambitions," Ginny stated, as if it were obvious.  
  
"That may have contributed to his fleeing of the castle, yes. I was referring to what exactly caused the Slytherin – Gryffindor rivalry. Do you know what that was?  
  
Ginny thought a bit before she answered, "I don't, sir."  
  
"No one really does. Only a select few, my fellow founders, and I myself know. So I would greatly appreciate it, if you would try your best to keep it that way." He raised a brow in Ginny's direction.  
  
"I won't tell a soul, sir."  
  
Gryffindor accepted this with a curt nod. "Many people don't know this, but Salazar had a sister. She was lovely, smart and very capable with a wand. She had fallen in love with a half-blood wizard. Knowing how her brother would react, she tried to conceal her affair from him, and I must say she did a rather good job for the three years it lasted. Inevitably, however, Salazar did find out. He was angered, not only because of his sister's wizard's impurity, but mainly because he had had other plans for his sister."  
  
Gryffindor took a deep breath before he continued. "Purity was very important to Salazar, so much, in fact, that it came near the point of obsession. He wanted to marry his sister. To begin to breed, what he thought, would be the purest line in the world. His sister would have nothing of it. She absolutely refused to marry him; she didn't love him. Outraged, Salazar killed his sister's lover in front of her eyes."  
  
Ginny's eyes widened.  
  
"She wanted to die, or at least that was what she told me hundreds of times."  
  
"Told you?" Ginny queried softly.  
  
"Yes, told me. You see, after her lover's death, Salazar's sister had nearly committed suicide at their family's castle. Salazar, though not many people knew it, loved his sister dearly. Their parents had died when they were young. She was all he had. He moved her to Hogwarts, in the hopes of keeping her alive and safe, and maybe even gaining her favour to wed. She was still very angry with her brother, so Salazar had arranged her living quarters at my wing of the castle. He had thought that since he couldn't be close to keep her safe, at least I would." Gryffindor took a long pause. It was so long, in fact, that Ginny had thought he had finished. Just as Ginny was about to urge him to continue, he began to continue on his own. "She stayed in the castle for four years. And to make a long story much, much shorter, we fell in love sometime during those four years."  
  
Ginny saw regret flicker across the Gryffindor's eyes. "But—"  
  
"But we never acted upon it, never said it. Or at least I never allowed us to. She came to me one night, and begged me to kiss her. I refused. The following week, she married her brother." There was another long pause. "She had just finished giving birth to her fourth son, and was suffering from complications in birth. After everything that could be done was over, a painful death was evident. Salazar sat by her side, hand clasped within hand, the entire time. When she neared her death, Salazar told her that he loved her for the first time since they were children." Gryffindor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "She stared up at him and gave him a sad smile. She used her free hand to cup his cheek and said, 'I love him.' She pointed toward the doorway, where I was standing, and then she died."  
  
Ginny was speechless.  
  
"Salazar was furious."  
  
"I would think so," Ginny said under her breath.  
  
Gryffindor opened his eyes and smiled sadly at Ginny. "That isn't the point, though." He took another deep breath. "I loved her, but was unwilling to act upon it. Unwilling, because I was scared of her brother. She died leaving me forever wondering 'what if'. She took my best friend away as well."  
  
"I still don't understand, sir." Ginny couldn't fully grasp the point of his story.  
  
"The point is, Miss Weasley, that the heart and brain have and forever will be one, despite what people say and what stupid analogies they try to come up with. The question at hand is if your brain is smart enough to realise that. Love is rash, true. But rationality is often lonely."  
  
Parkinson's screech had alerted everyone, including all of the teachers. Madam Hootch reached the scene first; McGonagall arrived not soon after. As soon as she took in the scene before her, McGonagall began to scold the Weasleys and Harry as if there were no tomorrow. Ron and Harry got themselves a month's worth of detentions each, and a possibility of missing out on the Ball. The other boys would be sent to a meeting with the Headmaster. Madam Pomfrey conjured up a floating stretcher as soon as she arrived on the scene. With one loud command, Professor McGonagall cleared a path for Draco's body to float alongside the nurse up to the hospital wing. The Deputy Headmistress rubbed her temples. She hadn't even bothered to ask just exactly why she had been looking at a swollen and purple-faced Draco Malfoy. After witnessing the little scene between Draco and Ginny during the match, she found that she didn't want to know.  
  
After their little incident with Malfoy, Professor Dumbledore had no choice but to ask Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the twins to end their stay at the castle.  
  
Ron, however, was doing quite a fine job of keeping his sister away from Malfoy, all on his own. Or so it seemed. He had made sure that someone was always around her, watching her. Ron would escort Ginny to breakfast and accompany her back to the common room after dinner. He sat with her at lunch and spent most of his weekends with her. Forgetting about the incident at the beginning of Term Feast, Ron had arranged for Collin Creevey to keep an eye on Ginny during, and in between es. When Ron and Hermione would spend time together, Harry would be appointed to watch her. Harry and Ron would also rotate spending nights in the common room, to make sure Ginny wouldn't sneak out.  
  
Only a few days until the Halloween Ball, Ginny began to send owls to Draco; they agreed to not see each other until that night. They were going together, whether Ron liked it or not. 


	18. Chapter 18: Burgundy

Burgundy  
  
Two white boxes with deep green bows, one large and slender and the other small but thick, sat on Ginny's bed as she walked into her dorm after classes. It was the day of the Ball, and the boxes undoubtedly held what Draco wanted her to wear. After closing the door behind her, she walked over to her bed. She carefully pulled out the card that was tucked under the bow to read it. It was, of course, blank.  
  
Draco had become rather careful when it came to sending things to Ginny. He didn't want the wrong people to discover that the letters and gifts Ginny had been receiving were from him.  
  
She muttered an incantation, and Draco's familiar scrawl appeared on the card:  
  
You'll look amazing.  
  
Draco always kept his notes and letters concise.  
  
Ginny put the card aside and slowly opened the larger box. She gasped in a mixture of awe and confusion. Inside was a sleek floor length gown. It was low cut and tight around the bust, even tighter at the lower waist and upper bum, and belled out nicely from there. The straps of the dress were wide but would cover only the curve of her shoulders.  
  
What confused her was not the simple elegance and beauty of the gown, but the colour. She had been expecting white or black, and if Draco had been stupid and really wanted to anger her brother, maybe even green. What she didn't expect was Gryffindor burgundy.  
  
She replaced the lid atop of the larger box, and went to open the smaller one. It contained a beautiful pair of perfectly matching slippers to go with the gown. Just as she was about to close that box, she noticed an even smaller box tucked in between the slippers. She picked it up and opened it. Inside was a small golden pin, in the shape of a lion with ruby eyes.  
  
Ginny saw a note peak from beneath the pin. She carefully withdrew it and, again, spoke an incantation to reveal the message.  
  
Wear it on your right breast. It'll all make sense tonight.  
  
Before she had the chance to really marvel at the pin's beauty, she heard loud footsteps running up the staircase. She quickly closed the little box, placed it back with the slippers, and shoved both the large box and the small box under her bed. She stood up just as the door swung open.  
  
She turned just in time to see her fellow chasers come crashing into the room. "Ginny, Ginny, guess who asked us to the ball," one of them asked excitedly.  
  
"Crabbe and Goyle?"  
  
"Ewww, Ginny!" the other girl said as she wrinkled her nose.  
  
Ginny smiled. "Okay, okay. Who?"  
  
"Seamus and Dean!" both girls screamed and began to jump up and down in circles.  
  
Ginny shook her head, "You'd think that you two had never been asked out before... and why didn't you ever tell me that you fancied those two (before)?"  
  
"Oh, Gin," one of the girls said regaining some composure. "We're not exited about going with Seamus and Dean. We're just happy that we don't have to go dateless."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Ladies! Would you please stop screaming and jumping? The first, second, and third years are trying to study in the common room!" An annoyed Hermione said from the doorway.  
  
"Sorry, Hermione," the girls said in unison.  
  
"We have to head to our dorms to get ready, anyway," one of the girls said pulling the other girl toward the door.  
  
"We'll see you later, Gin."  
  
Hermione moved aside to let the girls by. She shut the door behind them as she muttered about how she was never like that when she was their age.  
  
"Why aren't you getting ready yet, Hermione?" Hermione directed her attention to Ginny.  
  
"I've found a much quicker and easier spell, to sleeking my hair, so I don't need the four hours that everyone else does."  
  
"Oh," Ginny's boredom reverberated in her voice  
  
Hermione went to sit down beside Ginny on her bed.  
  
"Are sure that you don't want to go, Ginny? You know, Harry still doesn't have a date," Hermione addressed her friend softly.  
  
Ginny had to suppress herself from rolling her eyes at the mentioning of Harry. Ron and Hermione had been trying to get Ginny to go to the Ball with Harry for weeks, (and for weeks) but she had always politely refused.  
  
"I don't really feel like going, Hermione. Besides I've got loads of homework," Ginny said convincingly.  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure. Now go get ready for a fun night with Ron. Don't worry about me," Ginny tried to assure her.  
  
"I'm not worried about you, at all. Don't take this the wrong way Ginny, but I'm sort of worried about Harry. I mean, I know that you've been over your crush ages ago, but he really likes you. And I think he really wanted to go with you. I just feel so bad that he has to go alone."  
  
Ginny suppressed a snort.  
  
Hermione sighed deeply. "Oh well." She began to make her way to the door and turned just as she opened it. "I'll come back when I'm ready. I'd like to know what you think." Without waiting for a response, Hermione made her way out of the room just as Ginny's roommates entered to get ready for the ball themselves.  
  
Two hours later Ginny walked up the girls' stairs and into the corridor that connected all the girl dorms. The corridor was full of heavily made up girls in beautiful gowns. She saw the lower year students marveling at their house mates as they made their way to their own dorms from their own dinner. Those who weren't going to the Ball had dinner normally, while those attending the Ball would have theirs during it. The traditional Halloween Feast would be held the following night.  
  
She was tapped on the shoulder from behind and gasped when she turned to face the girl that tapped her. Hermione looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing a simple strapless lilac dress. There was a bow under her breasts, and the dress ended just above her ankles. Her hair was done in a simple ponytail of ringlets with a sprinkle of glitter.  
  
"You look amazing, Hermione," Ginny said truthfully.  
  
"Thank you," Hermione blushed. "I'm sure I'd have been barely a candle to you, if you came though."  
  
Ginny only shrugged. She raised her voice to address all of the girls, "Well, the boys are waiting for you all down stairs. Shall I give you all a formal introduction?"  
  
After several 'please' and 'yes', Ginny went back down to the common room. With a swift introduction, the girls walked slowly down the stairs to meet their dates.  
  
Within ten minutes, everyone made their way out of the portrait hole and onto the Great Hall. Everyone but the trio, that is.  
  
"Gin, are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, Ron." Ginny sighed with annoyance, convincingly assuring her brother for the fiftieth time that she didn't want to go to the Ball.  
  
"Come on Ron, I'm sure Ginny's got tons of homework. Why else, would she pass up the Ball?" Ron turned to face his best friend. There was a mixture of shielded hurt and determination behind Harry's emerald eyes.  
  
Ron turned back to his sister, "I'll see you when we get back, then." The trio made their way to the portrait hole. Just before Ron went through, he turned and said very seriously, "Don't try anything stupid, Gin. If He isn't there, I will come back to make sure you're here. And if he just happens to be here with you, then you don't want to know what I'll do. Understand?"  
  
With a curt nod on Ginny's part, Ron left her alone in the common room.  
  
As soon as she heard the portrait hole shut, Ginny ran up the stairs to get ready for the Ball.  
  
"Ron, you should really give it a rest," Hermione said to her boyfriend as she took his arm.  
  
"What do you mean, give it a rest?" Ron all but snapped.  
  
"You're lucky she's even decided to speak to you again," Hermione sighed in hopelessness as Ron stubbornly ignored what she had said. She tried again, "Can't you see how unhappy she is?"  
  
"Unhappy? She looks fine to me." Ron stated stubbornly.  
  
"Everyone knows there's something between Ginny and Malfoy, Ron. And everyone also knows that Ginny's unhappiness has something to do with that," Hermione said pressingly.  
  
"Well, she's been better lately."  
  
"Oh, please, Ron. You ar—"  
  
"Come on, you two. Let's not argue for one night," Harry cut Hermione off.  
  
Ron and Hermione nodded silently, as Harry led them into the Hall, with way too much confidence for it to be real.  
  
Once they entered, Hermione and Ron dropped back a couple of steps to escape Harry's earshot.  
  
"What is that all about?" Hermione turned her head slightly to ask Ron.  
  
"I think he's determined to have fun tonight, even if it isn't with the girl he wanted," Ron leaned down to whisper into his girlfriend's ear.  
  
Ron had forgotten all about Malfoy.  
  
Ginny hurried down the corridor toward the Great Hall. She stopped to catch her breath and smooth down her dress when she reached the top of the last staircase. She ran a hand through her hair, which she had decided to keep down with only a touch of golden glitter.  
  
She heard the slight tapping of a foot and knew Draco was already at the doors to the hall, waiting for her. She took a deep breath and began to walk calmly down the steps. As she descended into view, she heard the tapping cease and fought to keep her eyes in front of her. When she finally reached the bottom of the steps, she turned and stifled a gasp.  
  
Draco looked dead sexy. He was wearing heavy black, yet slightly tinted green, dress robes. His slacks were black, and his dress shirt was Slytherin green. On his right breast was a silver pin of a serpent with emerald eyes.  
  
They stood where they were, unable to keep their eyes of one another's bodies. A good five minutes later, Draco walked up to Ginny and offered her his arm. He began to lead her to the closed doors of the Great Hall.  
  
"You look beautiful," he whispered into her ear. "Even better than how I pictured the Gryffindor Princess to be."  
  
"Draco?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"What's with the house theming?"  
  
"Dumbledore's always supported inter-house relations."  
  
"How does that answer my question? Besides, when did you become so found of Dumbledore or his goals?"  
  
"I didn't want your housemates thinking you were no longer loyal to them."  
  
There were round tables set all over the perimetre of the hall. Set near the entrance were refreshment tables prepared for later that night, and a stage was set for the night's entertainment at the other end of the hall.  
  
Everyone was deeply immersed in their own little conversations as they finished their dinner.  
  
Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, as well as Oliver Wood. They were all eating and talking normally, when the doors to the hall slowly began to open. Everyone in the hall turned to see who the late comers were.  
  
When Draco and Ginny walked through the doors, everyone's eyes, except Dumbledore's, seemed to boggle out of their heads.  
  
Draco looked around the room, emotionlessly. Ginny kept her eyes on her feet, afraid of meeting her brother's or any of her housemates' eyes. Seeing this, Draco brought his hand up to tilt up her cheek, and kissed it, all the while looking straight into the eyes of Ron. Then he led Ginny to the table farthest from her brother's. The room remained deathly silent, until Draco and Ginny were seated. But once they were seated, the whispering came in huge waves.  
  
"Ron..." Hermione tried to calm him down.  
  
"How dare he?" Ron said through gritted teeth.  
  
Hermione took her boyfriend's hands under the table. "Just let them be. We'll talk to Ginny about this when we get back to the common room," Hermione whispered into Ron's ear.  
  
Ron turned to look at Hermione. "He touched her, did you see that? Malfoy put his filthy hands on my sister. And she let him do it!"  
  
"Ron, please. Don't make a scene. They're sitting right next to the professors." Hermione pleaded.  
  
"I can't believe him!" Pansy Parkinson all but screeched.  
  
"I don't think any of us can," one of Pansy's pathetic followers agreed.  
  
Pansy and friends seemed to be the only Slytherins that honestly found Draco and Ginny's new found relationship a problem.  
  
"It's about time we try and clean that family up," Blaise Zabini said to his date.  
  
"Tell me about it. The Weasleys can be very valuable. And it was such a shame seeing such pure blood go to waste," Blaise's date responded.  
  
"Yeah, and Weaselette isn't that bad looking, either," commented Malcolm Baddock from across the table.  
  
Zabini looked over to where the Gyrffindors had all gathered. "Valuable she can be, indeed."  
  
Everyone at his table looked at him inquiringly.  
  
Zabini smirked and pointed toward the table that seated the Gryffindor Quidditch team. "It looks like Potter's just realised how stupid he really is."  
  
Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat. Everyone quieted down immediately. "Now that everyone is here and dinner has been finished, I think it is time to get the entertainment started." With the clap of his hands, various instruments on the stage began to play themselves. The instruments played a soft and slow melody to start of the Ball.  
  
"Ginny, let's dance," Draco more commanded than requested.  
  
"Draco, I don't know. Ron already looks absolutely murderous as it is," Ginny said with her head down.  
  
Draco reached his hand across the table, and with one long slender finger under her chin, he raised Ginny's face so that they were at eye level. "How would you know what your brother looks like? You haven't looked up all night."  
  
"I can feel his anger reverberating off of the walls."  
  
"I'm sure Granger will keep him on a tight leash," Draco smirked.  
  
He stood up, walked to the other side of the table, and offered Ginny his arm. Ginny took it, reluctantly, and was led to the empty dance floor.  
  
"You have to admit though, Gin looks absolutely gorgeous tonight," said Seamus' date.  
  
"You can say that again," Dean's date agreed.  
  
She's always been gorgeous, we were all just too blind to see it, Harry thought to himself. Everyone but Malfoy, that is.  
  
Every male in the room watched enviously as Ginny laid her head against Draco's chest. Harry's jealousy, however, was(,) by far(,) the strongest in the room. He felt like chopping Malfoy into little pieces and flushing them, one by one, down the toilet. He would have done it, too. But he was afraid it would only upset Ginny.  
  
Ron abruptly stood from his seat. "Hermione, you wanna dance?" he said, all the while staring daggers at Malfoy.  
  
"Ron—" Before Hermione was able to properly answer him, Ron yanked her out of her seat and led her to the dance floor.  
  
As soon as Ron had felt that Hermione had caught his flow, they began dancing circles around Draco and Ginny. Hermione tried her best to cool down Ron's temper, but Ron only ignored her.  
  
"I have a very very bad feeling about this," said Dean as he watched Ron and Hermione dance circles around Draco and Ginny like vultures.  
  
"Yeah. I think Ron's reaching the verge of doing something very irrational," agreed Seamus' date.  
  
"You think we should do something?" Seamus asked Dean.  
  
Dean nodded.  
  
"Well then ladies, how about we head out onto that dance floor?" Seamus asked with a smile.  
  
The Slytherins watched as Seamus and Dean led their dates onto the dance floor.  
  
"Now this doesn't seem fair does it?" Malcolm Baddock raised a brow.  
  
"A snake stuck caught in a gang of lions. Nope, not fair at all," Blaise Zabini responded.  
  
"Well then, why don't we help our dear friend a bit?" Malcolm stood and offered his arm to his date.  
  
"That's not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all," Blaise stood and offered his arm to his own date.  
  
The entire hall watched as most of the Slytherin and Gryffindor quidditch teams walked onto the dance floor.  
  
The Ravenclaws knew that if something broke out, then the Ball would be over. Seeing as they had been looking forward to this for three months, they were not willing to let that happen. The chasers of the Ravenclaw quidditch team were soon leading their own dates to the dance floor, as well.  
  
Hufflepuffs soon followed.  
  
Oliver sat in his seat amused. So Malfoy's the lucky git that's been able to land Ginny, he thought. He turned his head and shook it as he saw how furious Harry looked. Merlin, it sucks to be him.  
  
Draco and Ginny kept dancing as more and more people joined them on the dance floor. When Draco had re-caught view of Ron, he began to fiddle with his Slytherin pin. Ginny noticed this.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Why are you playing with your pin?"  
  
Draco took off his pin and began to take work on Ginny's pin.  
  
"Dra—"  
  
"I've been meaning to ask you something," Draco cut Ginny off.  
  
"Can't you ask me out in the hall?" Ginny asked as she caught her brother's furious gaze.  
  
Draco took off Ginny's pin and held both pins in his right hand. He held up his hand so that Ginny could see. The eyes of both pins began to glow, and before Ginny's eyes, both pins were replaced by a beautiful diamond ring.  
  
Draco leaned in to whisper into Ginny's ear, "Will you marry me?"  
  
Ginny's eyes widened. She looked up into Draco's eyes, which held so much love and promise. She looked back down at the ring, and tears began to swell in her eyes.  
  
"Draco, I-I—" Ginny choked. She looked back into Draco's eyes. "I-I can't."  
  
Ginny could see the hurt and confusion flicker across Draco's eyes. "Wh—," Draco wasn't able to finish.  
  
Ron had seen the ring and lunged at him. 


	19. Chapter 19: Until Now

Until Now  
  
Ron was not the only one to see the ring. Everyone else in the hall had seen it as well.  
  
Snape had sensed something brewing earlier when he saw the Slytherins step onto the dance floor. He had decided to patrol the perimetre of the floor, and so he was able to pull Ron off Draco before anything could really happen.  
  
Snape yanked Ron away and threw him at the Gryffindor beaters who quickly began to hold him back. The Slytherins went to stand behind Draco.  
  
Ginny was caught in a crowd of Hufflepuffs.  
  
Draco slowly, but gracefully, stood up and straightened his robes. After flicking off a tiny lint ball from his robe, he slowly looked up, lazily tilted his head, and sneered at Ron. "What in the bloody hell was that for, Weasley? You nearly ruined my robes, and I don't think you can afford to replace them."  
  
"Oh shut up, you ferret fucking bastard!"  
  
"Tsk, tsk, Weasel," Draco said shaking his head. "What would your mother say if she knew about that colourful tongue of yours?"  
  
"Slimy, conniving, corrupting assholes like you are fair game, Malfoy," Ron gritted through his teeth while he tried to escape Dean and Seamus's tight hold.  
  
Draco examined the nails of his right hand lazily.  
  
"You are nothing but a dirty future Death Eater! You don't deserve her!" Ron shouted at Draco.  
  
At this, Draco's head shot up. "What did you say?" he asked deathly quiet.  
  
"Your stupid bloody Death Eating arse does not deserve her!" Ron replied slowly, applying great force to each word.  
  
Draco straightened up and averred, "You're probably right about one thing; maybe I don't deserve her. But I am not a Death Eater!"  
  
Ron laughed harshly. "Don't give me that bullshit. You're only using her, everyone knows it. And either way, no one in my family or close to my family will ever allow you to touch her again."  
  
"In the end, Weasel, it still remains her decision," Draco stated smoothly.  
  
"Yes, it is her decision," Ron grinned nastily, "and she's made it."  
  
Malfoy searched the crowd of Gryffindors for Ginny, but could not find her.  
  
"You'd think that as a Malfoy you would have been taught about the power and influence of the family. My father will never let you lay a finger on her." Seamus and Dean were beginning to lose their hold on Ron.  
  
"Well it's sort of late for that, isn't it?" Draco arched his brow to make his implications clear to Ron.  
  
Dean and Seamus lost their hold.  
  
Ron charged at Draco. This started a chain reaction which resulted in a massive Gryffindor-Slytherin brawl. Seeing Ron take Draco down caused Harry to run onto the dance floor and then Blaise to run at Harry. Seamus and Dean were soon going after Crabbe and Goyle. Millicent Bulstrode went to attack the two Gryffindor chasers, but, to everyone's surprise, Hermione popped her good on the chin before Millicent could reach them. Out of no where, Malcolm Baddock began throwing hexes at Neville Longbottom.  
  
By now Ginny had run out of the Hall.  
  
The teachers were only able to separate everyone with the help of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw prefects.  
  
McGonagall sent everyone back to their dormitories except for Ron, Hermione, Harry, Seamus, Dean, Goyle, Crabbe, Blaise, Malcolm, and Draco. She called for Madam Pomfrey to take Millicent and Neville up to the hospital wing.  
  
She stared down at the ten teenagers in front of her with disgust. The professor first addressed Hermione. "This," she gestured with her right hand, "I would have expected from the boysï‚¾or from anyone for that matter, but you. I am very disappointed in you, Ms. Granger. Fifteen points from Gryffindor." She paused for a good half a second and, for the first time, looked down at her best student with that condescending look she always saved for trouble makers. "Well Ms. Granger, I'm sure your presence is needed elsewhere. Ms. Weasley must be in dire need of comfort." Hermione nodded and left quietly.  
  
Professor McGonagall rubbed her temples. "It is much too late," she sighed. "Lucky for the nine of you, I do not have the time or energy to handle this tonight. Malfoy, Zabini, Grabbe, Goyle, and Baddock, I will leave your disciplines to Professor Snape. As for Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, I will take care of you two in the morning." She looked toward Snape and Dumbledore, "Was there anything you two wanted to add?"  
  
Dumbledore was the one who answered, "No, Minerva."  
  
McGonagall looked back to the boys, "Well then, to your dormitories at once, all of you."  
  
Hermione entered through the portrait hole. In front of a blazing fire, on the couch she found the two chasers trying their best to comfort a hysterical Ginny. They all turned to when they heard the portrait shut behind her.  
  
Ginny stood and asked as calmly as she could, "Where is Ronald?"  
  
Hermione took a hesitant step toward Ginny. "Gin--"  
  
"Where is Ron?" Ginny asked again more sternly.  
  
"He's still in the Great Hall. McGonagall is issuing disciplines."  
  
Just as Hermione finished her sentence, Ron came bursting through the portrait hole, with Harry not far behind him.  
  
Ron saw Hermione and began to ask, "Where is--"  
  
He didn't have to finish. Ginny was standing right behind Hermione.  
  
Ginny and Ron locked eyes and stared daggers at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but was only really about a couple of seconds.  
  
"You will not see him anymore," Ron stated calmly but firmly.  
  
Ginny lifted her chin in defiance. "That's what you said three weeks ago."  
  
Ron paused as he searched his baby sister's eyes. "He's using you, and I'll be damned before I just stand around and watch him hurt you," he said, maintaining his calm but firm tone.  
  
Before Ginny could throw anything back at him, Ron stalked toward and up the boys' stairs.  
  
"I should go up and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Harry said quietly, breaking the dead silence in the room.  
  
Just as he began to make his way toward the boys' stairs, Hermione stepped forward and waved a hand to stop him. "No. I'll go, Harry."  
  
Before Harry could object, Hermione was already half way up the stairs.  
  
Ginny's fellow chasers sighed. One of them turned to address Ginny. "Gin, we should probably get up to bed now."  
  
"You two go ahead, I'll stay down here for a while longer," Ginny plopped down on a sofa and stared into the fire.  
  
The chasers first looked at each other, then Ginny, and finally Harry. "Are you sure, Gin?"  
  
"Very."  
  
With a final 'okay', both girls headed up to their dormitories.  
  
For a long time, Ginny simply sat on the sofa staring into the fire, while Harry simply stood staring at Ginny.  
  
It wasn't until twenty minuets after the girls had left that, finally, Harry spoke. "Are you sure about him, Gin?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
Ginny turned her head to look at Harry. "Yes. I am."  
  
Harry nodded and tried to fight off the feeling of hurt reverberating throughout his chest. "Then why'd you say no?"  
  
"What?" Ginny asked, genuinely confused.  
  
"Why did you refuse his proposal?"  
  
Ginny turned her head to look back into the fire. "I really don't know, Harry," she shrugged. "I love him, and he loves me. But I just couldn't say 'yes'." Ginny paused, and Harry made his way to take a seat on an armchair. "I suppose I just can't go through with it if my family doesn't approve of it." She paused again. "And his family...he loves his mother, dearly. And I know Narcissa would probably be okay with us, but what about Lucius?"  
  
"He's in Azkaban," said Harry.  
  
"But for how much longer? He knows how much Draco cares for his mother. And the only real reason Lucius ever needed Narcissa was to give birth to an heir. Now that Draco's been born, he could easily threaten Narcissa's safety...and I don't want to put Draco through that."  
  
Ginny paused again for a very long time.  
  
"Gin?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I know you're over that crush you had over me, that you have been for ages, but I just wanted to let you know that...I like you. A lot."  
  
Ginny turned to look sympathetically into Harry's eyes. She began to shake her head helplessly, "Harry, I--"  
  
"Let me finish," Harry raised a hand to interrupt her. "I've tried to push my feelings for you away. I've tried to ignore them since summer holiday. But I can't. I want you to be happy, Gin. If it has to be Malfoy... I don't know... he seems to make you happy," Harry unconsciously licked his lips before he continued, "so I just want you to know that I'll stand behind you on this, okay?"  
  
Ginny didn't know what to say. After another long pause, she finally said quietly and appreciatively, "Thank you, Harry."  
  
"Ron, what are you doing?" Hermione asked just as she caught up with her boyfriend.  
  
"She won't listen to me. She won't listen to any of my brothers, except for maybe Bill. But seeing as he blindly approves of this bullshit, he doesn't make a difference."  
  
"So?" Hermione asked hesitantly.  
  
"So, I'm going to owl the two people she will listen to."  
  
The two had just entered the seventh year boys' dorm. Seamus and Dean were still awake and looked at the two inquiringly but kept quiet. Ron sat down on his bed and pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment. Just as Hermione sat down beside him he began to right:  
  
Dear Mom and Dad...  
  
A/N: Please review. 


	20. Chapter 20: Dearest Mother

(A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. Chapters 20-22 are not beta-ed.)

Dearest Mother

Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Malcolm, and Blaise walked down to the Slytherin common room in complete silence. It wasn't until they entered the common room and the portrait whole was shut behind them that the silence was finally broken.

"Why didn't you tell us about her?" Blaise asked Draco as he sat down on one of the plush green sofas.

"You didn't need to know," Draco ran a hand through his hair.

Malcolm shook his head and chuckled in disbelief as he sat down besides Blaise. "A Malfoy and a Weasley. What is the world coming to?"

Malcolm was nearly smacked upside the head by Blaise, but dodged just in time. "She could be very valuable to our cause, Draco."

"Is that why you're seeing her?" Goyle asked.

"It must be," Crabbe stated.

Draco didn't answer.

Blaise sat down and scanned Draco's features.

About half an hour later, Malcolm, Crabbe, and Goyle finally headed up to bed.

When their footsteps could no longer be heard, Draco turned his head only to meet Blaise's vast black eyes.

"My father always told me that Malfoys were incapable of loving, and I always believed him. Until now." Blaise stated before rising from the sofa and heading up to bed himself.

Draco stood where he was for a very long time before he finally decided that an owl to his mother was needed.

Arthur and Molly Weasley had just finished a late dinner and were in the kitchen when Ron's letter had arrived.

"Molly, Ron's sent us a letter," said Arthur between sips of tea as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Ron? This late? Well, let me see," said Molly, whipping her hands on her apron as she made her way from the kitchen sink to join her husband at the kitchen table. She took the letter, opened the envelope, extracted the piece of parchment from it, and began to read it out loud,

"Dear Mom and Dad,

I've tried my best to handle the situation on my own. I've even gotten Percy, Bill, Charlie, and the twins to help me. But nothing has worked. I know this may sound like a joke, and I know you might not believe me at first, but you two need to know. You're the only two she'll listen to..."

Molly had stopped reading aloud from shock, as she read the rest of the letter.

"Molly? Is that it?" Arthur asked over his cup of tea. "Molly?" He asked more worriedly as he noticed his wife's expression.

Molly simply handed the letter to her husband.

Arthur took the letter and read the rest of it to himself.

Ginny is seeing Malfoy. Impossible? That's what I thought. She thinks she's in love. And Malfoy's even proposed to her, and practically in front of the entire school. She said no, but she might change her mind. He's going to hurt her, and Ginny's too blind to see it. What's worse, it is that Bill actually approves it. You need to do something about this, and quick.

Your son,

Ron

Arthur dropped the letter in shock. _My little girl..._

Narcissa Malfoy was sitting peacefully on an elegantly carved white stone bench in the rose gardens of Malfoy Manner. She was looking through a book that contained pictures and information of all of the pure-blooded families of the Wizarding world. The book was updated every year by the Ministry of Magic and sent to every pure-blooded family. Narcissa had received it that morning, along with her son's letter.

She ran her hand gently over the Weasley family portrait. _They look so happy_,Narcissa thought to herself both curiously and enviously. As a Black, she never knew what it was like to have a loving family. As a Malfoy, despite the man her husband was, she had tried her best to make sure that her son would be exposed to at least some love.

Narcissa picked up the letter she had received from Draco that lay by her side. She unfolded it and re-read it for the third time.

Dearest Mother,

When I came home last summer, you said their was something different about me. I denied it, and you only smiled. Well, you were right. There is something different about me. There has been for the past year and a half.

Near the end of fifth year, just before father was caught, I was hit by a smarting Bat-Bogey hex. Guess who hit me. Ginevra Weasley. That's right Arthur Weasley's youngest and only daughter. I was angry to say the least, and when my sixth year began, I was out for vengeance. Somewhere along the line, where I don't know, she had gotten to me. Now, we've been seeing each other for a little less than a year.

I know this might sound preposterous, Mother, but I am afraid I have fallen in love. I know, a Weasley, impossible. But it's true. I don't even want to think of how Father is going to react when word finds its way through the walls of Azkaban.

The reason why I wrote this letter, is because I wanted to let you know of my plans to marry Ginny. I know what I'm up against. Her brothers, her father, my father, Potter, but I love her, and I know she loves me. I proposed to her at the Halloween Ball, but she said she couldn't. I don't know what to do. I don't know why she said no, and I don't know what I need to do to get her to say yes.

I need your advice, Mother.

With love, your son,

Draco

Narcissa re-folded the letter and lay it back down by her side. Once again, she gently ran her hand over the happy family before reading the words under it.

The Weasley Family--date back to the years of Merlin. The most noticeable family trait, that has been passed down for centuries, is the signature flaming red Weasley hair. It has been said that before the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named the Weasley line was one of the most highly regarded families in the world. When the Weasley line refused to support He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Dark Lord--with the help of his followers--stripped them of their riches. Though they lack in gold, they are well-endowed with loyalty and magical power. They have been known for their loyalty to "the light", and are not highly looked upon by most other pure-blooded families for their tolerance and sympathy for muggles and those who are muggle born. Their purity of blood is second only to that of the illustrious Malfoy line.

Narcissa turned to the page that held a portrait and the information of the youngest Weasley. Just as she had to the family portrait, Narcissa gently ran a hand over a beaming Ginny. _She's beautiful_, she thought to herself before she read the words that accompanied the picture.

Ginevra Weasley--the youngest and only daughter of Arthur and Molly. Ginevra is addressed by most by the nickname of Ginny. She is the first female to be born into the Weasley line in over two centuries, and unlike the flaming hair of her father and brothers, the shade of red of her own hair is that of deep rich blood. Throughout history there has only been a handful of females born into the Weasley line. Each of them, unlike their male kin, have been endowed with this exact same shade of blood-red hair. Since the Malfoy line has failed to produce a daughter of their own, Ginevra can be considered to be the witch of purest blood in the world.

Following those words was the more specific information (i.e. birth date, eye color, height, etc.) about Ginny. Narcissa closed the book. She assumed that the Weasleys knew about her son and their daughter. Perhaps that was why she had said no. In fear of how they would react. Narcissa sighed. She didn't know what to tell Draco, other than he had her blessing.

Ginny walked down the girls' stairs to the common room. To her surprise, Ron was no where to be seen. She was sure that he would have been there to escort her to breakfast.

"There you are, Ginny. Took you long enough," Ginny turned toward the voices of her fellow chasers. "So, are we going to breakfast or what?"

Ginny nodded, and the three Gryffindor chasers made their way to the Great Hall.

Just before they made it to the entrance of the hall, Ginny was pulled aside by her brother.

"You two go ahead. I need to speak to Ginny in private," Ron said calmly to his teammates.

The girls nodded and, reluctantly, entered the hall without Ginny.

"Ron what's--Ow! Ron, your hurting me," Ron had grabbed Ginny roughly by the arm and dragged her up to a room near Dumbledore's office. Ron didn't let go of her until they had fully entered the room and the door had shut behind them.

"Ron, what in the bloody hell was that for? This better not leave a bruise!" Ginny yelled indignantly.

"Oh stop ranting and don't slouch. You can always go to Madam Pomfrey or Hermione to find a way to cover it up." Ginny froze. That voice belonged to only one person--her mother. Ginny slowly turned around to find her parents sitting on a white sofa looking straight at her.

"Hello, Mum, Dad," Ginny smiled pathetically. "What are you two doing here?" She asked, knowing perfectly well the answer.

"Your brother has come to us with some startling news," Arthur said, the calm in his voice obviously forced. "At first I couldn't believe it. My little girl, seeing the son of the man that had caused her so much pain," the hurt and anger rose in his voice as he continued, "But then I asked the twins, and they confirmed it. At first I thought it was just the twins playing another joke. But then I asked Charlie and Percy, and they both confirmed it as well. Then I asked Bill...," Arthur trailed off, unable to continue. He buried his head into his hands. Molly wrapped her arms around her husband.

"You will no longer see him. Do you understand?" Molly spoke sternly as she stared right into her daughter's eyes. "This family suffered enough pain when his father almost took you away from us. We will not allow you to let yourself get hurt again."

"But Mum--"

"What did he do to you? To my little girl?" Arthur's confused voice cut Ginny off. He looked up at her, "Did he hurt you? Do something to you? A spell--"

"No Daddy, he didn't do anything like that," Ginny half pleaded, half comforted. Ginny walked to her father, sat on the ground, and laid her head on his lap--like she did when she was little. "Daddy, he loves me, and I love him. He asked me to marry him last night. I said no because I wanted to make sure that he asked you for your blessing properly first."

"No."

"What?" Ginny's head shot up at her father's response.

"You will not marry him. I will not let you marry him. I will not let you see him again," Arthur's voice rose with each sentence.

"But Daddy--"

"No buts," Arthur took his daughter by the shoulders, "He will only use you."

"No!" Ginny shook her head fervently. "Daddy, he isn't like his father. He would never..."

"Oh don't be so naïve, Ginny," Molly said exasperated. "Don't you find it at all weird that his housemates approve of your relationship?"

"How do you know that they approve?" Ginny asked, genuinely confused.

Ron was the one who answered, "His housemates didn't even flinch when you two walked onto the dance floor. Some even looked at Malfoy with pride. With _pride_!" Ron waved his hands emphatically over his head, "When in history has any Slytherin looked at a housemate with pride for seeing a Weasley? Don't you find that the tiniest bit odd?"

"Ginny, he will only hurt you. Can't you see? Why can't you just forget about him and see a nice boy. Ron's told me that Harry has--" Ginny shrugged out of her father's hold and cut her mother off.

"Harry?" Ginny screamed in indignation. "That's what you want, isn't it? That's what you've always wanted, right? For me to marry Harry, and have a dozen kids! To make him officially your son. Well let me tell you something, Mum. I don't love Harry! I know he likes me, but he knows I don't love him. He even supports me and Draco!"

"_That is enough_!" Everyone froze at the unfamiliar anger in Arthur's voice. "I refuse to let my daughter consort a Malfoy! You will no longer see him! And if you do, I will be forced to notify his father about your relationship with his son! Even within the walls of Azkaban, I'm sure Lucius will find a way to force his son to stay away from you!"

Draco sat at the Slytherin table between Blaise and Malcolm. Sitting across from him were Crabbe and Goyle, stuffing their faces with pancakes overrun by syrup. For the hundredth time he looked, in vain, across the hall for any sign of Ginny. He had thought about her all night. Before he fell asleep he thought about why Ginny had said no. When he had fallen asleep, he dreamt of Ginny playing with their children in the rose gardens of Malfoy Manner.

The doors to the hall opened, and in walked Ginny and her brother. Draco sat up straighter. When he noticed the tear stained streaks that littered her face, he had to fight to retrain himself from running up to her. When he noticed how Ron had forcefully sat beside her, he felt the anger pulsing through his veins. _He had something to do with this. He made her cry_, Draco thought to himself.

Just as Draco was about to stand and head to his room to try and cool down, he was tapped on the shoulder from behind. Draco turned to face his head of house.

"I would like a word with you, Mr. Malfoy. And you four, as well ," Snape nodded toward Malcolm, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. The five young men stood gracefully and followed their head of house out of the great hall to his office.

As soon as the door was shut behind them, Snape turned around swiftly to address his students. "Would someone like to explain to me the events of last night?"

When no one answered, the boys were surprised that Snape didn't try to enforce the issue. Snape simply sat at his desk, pulled out a peace of parchment and a quill, and began to write. "Five points will be taken away from Slytherin House for each of you," Snape drawled as he wrote. "Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini, you four will receive two weeks worth of detention. Just as Potter, Finnegan, Thomas, and Weasley have. You, Mr. Baddock, will receive a month's detention for carelessly flinging hexes."

There was a long pause and a sound of finality. The five young men remained standing quietly in the room, however, waiting for a proper dismissal.

Five minutes later, Snape finally spoke, without looking away from his parchment. "I would like a word with you, Mr. Malfoy. The rest of you may leave."

When the door shut, leaving the teacher and pupil alone, Snape finally looked up from his parchment. "You do realize what you're getting yourself into."

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Draco responded with the respect his father had taught him how to answer with.

"The Weasleys may be poor. They may lack in galleons and fine clothing. What they do not lack is their love and willingness to protect their own." Draco remained silent. "Draco," Snape set down his quill, "I am sure you are aware of Ms. Weasley's involvement with the Chamber of Secrets during your second year?" Snape paused for a response.

"Yes, sir. I am," Draco replied.

"The Weasleys had almost fallen apart. Her brother, Ronald, if it was even possible, had allowed his already abysmal marks to become even lower. Her other brothers were walking around the halls like the undead. Her mother had almost broken down when she received the letter informing her of what had happened, and if it wasn't for Dumbledore, her father would have hunted your father down and killed him himself." Snape paused to search Draco's face. "You really love her, don't you?" Snape all but whispered.

Draco stared straight into Snape's eyes and said, "Yes. I do."

"Ginny Weasley is the glue that holds that family together. After what your father had put that family through, her family will have a very hard time accepting you. You must play your cards right and show the up most respect to her father. I suggest you befriend at least one of her brothers, because trust me when I say that it will make things very much easier for you."

Snape leaned into his desk to look Draco more sternly in the eye. "Do not make the mistake of hurting her. Within the Gryffindor system the Weasleys are highly regarded. If you break her heart, every male Gryffindor in the school will make sure to break your neck."

Snape leaned back into his seat and picked up his quill. "Remember what I have told you, and take my words seriously." With a swish of his quill he said, "You may leave" and returned to his parchment.

Draco nodded respectfully and headed to the door. Just before he reached the door, Draco turned around to address the professor. "Professor, may I ask you something?"

Snape looked up from his parchment and nodded once.

"Why do you approve of this? Why does most of Slytherin house approve of this? In fact, why do you even care?"

Snape set his quill back down and said, "Your second question, Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid I can not answer. Why do I approve of this? Why do I care? Maybe I can fully give you those answers later in life, perhaps when the differences between our priorities have changed. What I can tell you is that your mother said that she gives you her blessing to go on with your relationship."

"My mother? Is she the reason why you wanted to speak with me?"

"She didn't know what to tell you. She never really knew the Weasleys. But I would have spoken to you either way, Draco," Again the professor picked up his quill and returned to his parchment.

"Thank you, Professor," Draco nodded one last time before heading out the door. He needed to talk to Ginny. He needed to get things straight before he could do anything about assuaging her family.


	21. Chapter 21: Better Sessions

****

Better Sessions

After breakfast, Hermione and Harry decided to go back up to the common room.

Hermione really needed to speak to Ginny, and Harry agreed to help by taking care of Ron.

They had just turned into an empty corridor that led to Gryffindor Tower when they began to hear noises. Harry held out his arm to stop Hermione.

"You hear that?" Harry whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Hermione nodded. "It sounded like--"

Hermione was cut off when a door began to open. Hermione and Harry had barely made it around a corner unseen.

They both strained their ears as they began to hear two voices.

"Blaise, stop," said a female voice softly with a tinge of absentmindedness. "Anyone can see us."

"Where-do you-want-to go-then?" The deep voice that responded was clearly that of Blaise Zabini. His response had been punctured with what sounded like kisses.

Harry silently looked around the corner to see who Blaise was talking to and froze.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered worriedly. "Harry?" She gently shook him.

Hermione sighed in relief as Harry grabbed her arm to stop her form shaking him. He looked back at her and nodded toward the voices. Hermione carefully looked around the corner. Her eyes widened in shock.

Blaise Zabini had a long haired blonde up against the wall and was kissing her feverously. The girl, who had been kissing him back with just as much passion, was none other than Luna Lovegood.

After much effort, Luna pulled her lips away from those of the tall dark haired young man pinning her to the wall. "Blaise, we can't do this here."

Blaise rested his forehead against Luna's. "Then we'll go to the Slytherin dungeons."

"Alright," Luna said in that ever present wistful voice of hers.

Hermione ducked her head back around the corner just as Blaise took Luna's hand and began to lead her to the dungeons.

Harry and Hermione were still speechless long after Luna and Blaise's footsteps could no longer be heard. After a good ten minutes, Hermione and Harry finally burst out laughing.

Draco stalked through the halls, making his way out to the lake. His mind was still slightly in shock from the reactions of his housemates toward his relationship with Ginny.

He had seen the looks of his housemates when he had led Ginny into the Great Hall. They were shocked, yes, but not disgusted. In fact, some even looked impressed. Pansy was, really, the only person who had reacted the way Draco had thought they would. He supposed that was because everyone had thought Pansy was a shoe-in for his wife.

Draco had thought Blaise would have been the first person to contact Lucius. Instead, Blaise, for what reason, Draco had no idea, seemed to be the most understanding about the situation.

And Snape--talk about unexpected reactions. Draco was expecting Snape to have him sent to the hospital wing for any odd spells or potions. The last thing he expected was to be given advice. Wasn't Snape within the Dark Lord's inner circle? You'd think that he would have spat on Draco or took him aside to emphasize the reasons why their "crowd" did not consort with Weasleys. But advice? And what did he mean by "perhaps when the differences between our priorities change"? He always knew that Snape was hiding something, and the fact that his mother had gone to his professor for advice for her son, only confirmed it. His mother never did trust the crowd that his father surrounded himself with.

Draco turned into a semi-crowded corridor. As he walked through the corridor, every Slytherin, as always, nodded in his direction respectfully. Every Hufflepuff cowered away from him, and every Ravenclaw simply ignored him. The Gryffindors, Draco noticed, glared at him even more fiercely than usual.

Draco turned into several more corridors, each a bit less crowded than the other. He had just made it out the doors and onto the grounds when he saw Ginny's fellow Gryffindor chasers in the distance. They were bound to say something, anything about Ginny, so he followed them.

"Did you see Ginny at breakfast?"

"Of course I did. Only everyone in the hall did."

"Do you know what happened?"

"What? You don't know?"

"No. Did it have something to do with Ron?"

As the conversation continued, the girls began to slow in step. Draco was careful to stay unheard and unseen.

"Oh come on. You should know by now that it always has something to do with Ron."

"Well, what did he do this time, then?"

"He owled his parents."

The girls had reached the lake. They stood by the shore, while Draco hid behind an oak tree.

"You're kidding."

"I over heard Nearly Headless Nick say something about it while he was arguing with the Bloody Baron about Ginny and Malfoy, this morning. Sir Nicholas said that after the Ball, Ron had gone directly up to his dorm and owled his parents about Ginny's, quote unquote, _little secret_."

"How'd they react?"

"They came to visit this morning."

The other girl gasped. Draco nearly faltered.

"That's why Ron took her aside when we were walking to breakfast," the girl continued. "Mr. Weasley had gone bonkers. Said something along the lines of threatening to tell Malfoy's dad if she didn't stop seeing him."

Draco froze. _So that was what happened._

"I really hope Ginny knows what she's doing," the other girl whispered.

"Of course she does. She would never risk hurting her family like this otherwise. She loves him. Couldn't you see that at the Ball."

"What I saw was her reject Malfoy's proposal to marry him."

The girl gave a frustrated look to her teammate. "She must have had a good reason to say no. Besides, Ginny is smart enough to know whether or not she's being used."

"Well, she didn't know with Riddle."

Draco unconsciously clenched his fists.

"She was eleven then. She's grown since, okay?"

There was a long pause.

"Do you think she'll be able to practice this afternoon?" the other girl asked.

"I dunno."

Practice? When did the Gryffindors have practice today, Draco thought_. I thought the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs had first priorities to the pitch with their match next weekend._

The girls had started to make their way back to the castle. Draco carefully moved to hide behind the other side of the oak tree and stared down at the ground.

After about half an hour of thinking, Draco's head snapped up.

The common room was empty except for Ron sitting quietly watching Ginny stare emptily out a window.

Still amused about their encounter with Blaise and Luna, Hermione and Harry walked through the portrait hole. Their small smiles immediately fell and they looked at each other as soon as they saw Ron and Ginny. Harry nodded and went to sit beside his best friend.

"How's it going, Ron?" asked Harry as he sat down.

Ron grunted in response, his eyes on Ginny never wavering.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his untamed hair. "I've come up with some great new strategies."

"That's nice Harry," Ron said in a subdued manner.

"Why don't we head out to the court yard and discuss them?" Harry stood.

"You go ahead, Harry. I'd rather stay here."

Harry looked at Ginny and then back down at Ron. He sat back down and said quietly, "Look, Ron, I care about her, too. And in more ways than one. But you can't keep following her around like this. Hermione's here. I'm sure she'll make sure Ginny doesn't sneak out or anything. So, come on, let's go talk some quidditch."

Ron finally looked at Harry. "I just don't know what to do, Harry," Ron whispered as he hung his head. "She loves him, I know she does. I know I can be thick, but I'm not blind--well, completely blind, anyway. I saw it in her eyes at the Ball. And I hate to say it, but I saw it in Malfoy's eyes as well." Ron shook his head. "But I just can't trust Malfoy."

Harry placed a reassuring hand on Ron's shoulder. "It's hard for us as well, Ron. Come on. Maybe Hermione can dig up some information for us."

Ron nodded weakly, and they both stood. With one more look at his sister, Ron followed Harry toward the portrait hole.

Just before Harry walked through the portrait hole, he turned and raised his voice to address Ginny. "Hey, Gin. You up for practice this afternoon?"

"I dunno, Harry," Ginny said, still staring out the window.

Hermione had not moved from her place near the entrance. Just as Ron was about to follow Harry out of the common room, he went to gather Hermione in his arms and kissed her lips softly. He then buried his face in her hair and said, "I love you."

Hermione pulled away and smiled up at her boyfriend. "I love you, too." Hermione kissed Ron on the nose, and he finally exited the common room.

Hermione sighed and turned to look at Ginny. _She really is beautiful_, Hermione thought, _even when she is depressed._

Hermione walked over to her friend and sat next to her. She rested her head on Ginny's shoulder as one of her arms went to wrap around her, resting on the opposite shoulder that Hermione had her head rested on. Ginny didn't flinch. Hermione used the hand that had rested on Ginny's shoulder to gently stroke Ginny's hair.

"I know you love him, Gin."

Ginny said nothing and continued to stare out the window.

"I could only imagine--"

"No you can't imagine. Not a bit," Hermione was surprised by Ginny's calm interruption and stopped stroking her soft red hair.

"Actully I can. Not exactly what you're going through, of course, but the gist."

Ginny said nothing.

"You see there's this play, a sort of story, that's been passed on in the muggle world for centuries. In fact, some muggles a bit younger than we are study it in school. It's called _Romeo and Juliet_."

"Romeo and Juliet? Aren't those letters of the Greek Alphabet?" Ginny asked absentmindedly, keeping her eyes on the yellow zooming blurs that were the Hufflepuff quidditch team practicing in the pitch.

Hermione sighed and began to stroke Ginny's hair, once more. "It's about a boy and a girl who fall in love, but because their families hated each other, they were forced to hide their love. The girl, Juliet, had a cousin, who, if you think about it, acted much as Ron is now."

"But I'm babbling," Hermione shook her head and stood. "The thing is Ginny, is that the couple had killed themselves in the end, because they had come to the wrong conclusion that their love was impossible. I don't want you thinking that this can't work, Ginny--that you and Draco have to do something drastic. The Slytherins have seemed to completely accept this whole thing, even Snape. Dumblodore seems to be happy, I don't think I know why, but he is. Harry and me have also accepted it. And we know that the rest of the house and your family will learn to accept it over time, along with a bit of persuasion. They just have to be given it."

Ginny shifted in her seat.

"Gin, it'll be fine. You'll be fine."

Ginny turned her head abruptly and yelled, "I am fine! Why does everyone think I'm not?"

"Because you aren't, Ginny," Hermione took a step back, bracing herself for Ginny's wrath.

Ginny stood and her eyes narrowed into slits as she turned to look at Hermione. "What makes you so sure that I'm not?"

Hermione sighed and rubbed her temples. "We've had this same discussion hundreds of times already, Ginny. I'm getting really tired of it."

"Oh Plea--" Hermione cut Ginny off.

"No! I've had enough of this. You will shut up, sit down, and listen to what I have to say without a word!" Hermione yelled.

Ginny simply crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at her friend expectantly.

"I am standing here, offering you my help. So stop acting like Ron and suck up that stupid Weasley pride of yours and listen!" Hermione took a deep breath and continued calmly, "I hate to put it this way, but I am Head Girl. I am known for a reputation of having good views. Don't you think that having me on your side will help you? Whether I'd be giving you advice or just letting people know that I'm okay with you two?"

"Of course I do. I just don't--"

"Shut up! I haven't finished yet!" Ginny couldn't help but take a step back at Hermione's sudden outburst. Ginny had seen Hermione snap at people before, but this was different.

"What is with this attitude of yours, Ginny?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. "You have been so off lately--so depressed and cranky. Do you honestly think that this attitude will help you at all with convincing your family and the rest of our housemates that your relationship with Draco is a good thing."

"Well, I was much happier before my parents intervened."

"Okay, then. Maybe it'll be easier for our housemates to accept this. But what about your family? They aren't going to care about how you were when you two were seeing each other behind everyone's backs." Hermione took in deep breaths as she stared at Ginny, who's eyes had become rather softer and a tad more understanding.

"What do you think I should do, then?" Ginny asked softly, uncrossing her arms. She took a seat on a nearby sofa.

Hermione relaxed, relieved that Ginny was finally listening to her. Suddenly, Hermione felt tired and didn't feel like saying more than she needed to say, so she cut right to the chase. "Harry and I will take care of Ron and the rest of the seventh years. You need to talk to Bill. Get him to try and soften your family, specifically your mum. If your mum can accept Draco, it'll be much easier to convince your dad and the rest of your brothers. You also need to talk to Colin, Denis, and the other chasers on the team. Once you can convince those four to accept it, news of how okay your relationship actually is will be bound to start circulating throughout the tower. And since Colin is a favourite of Ron's to look after you, then maybe you and Colin can work something out so that you can see Draco. But the first and foremost thing that you need to do is talk to Draco."

"Ha. Easier said than done. How am I supposed to talk to him if Ron's always got someone following me?" Ginny looked away from Hermione and stared into the fire.

Hermione laughed softly, all feelings of fatigue gone. When Ginny turned to look at her friend, there was a small, uncharacteristic, mischievous smile on Hermione's face. "Well, that's how being Ron's girlfriend is one of the many benefits of having me on your side." Hermione's smile widened. "You see, every time Ron tries to convince someone to look after you, he always comes to me first to see who would do the best job. Since you have practice this afternoon and Colin is busy, he'll be talking to Michael Corner before lunch."

"Michael? Why Michael?"

Hermione smiled. "Well, Ron seems to think that Michael still has a little inkling for you, and thus, would do well to keep you away from Draco and closer to himself."

Ginny tilted her head in confusion. "But Michael just realised--"

"He's not interested in girls. I know. But, Ron doesn't, and I think it's better that way. Talk to Michael. I'm sure he'll find your whole predicament quite charming and help you."

Just as Hermione finished her sentence, Harry walked into the common room. Alone.

One of Ginny's brows rose in question. "Where's Ron? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"He's talking to Michael Corner," Harry smiled, indicating to Ginny that he knew all about Hermione's plan.

Harry moved to sit down next to Ginny. "So, is my star chaser up for practice today?"

Ginny smiled for the first time in what seemed like ages, but was actually a little less than a day. "And why wouldn't I be?"

Before lunch, Ginny had owled Bill and talked to Colin and Dennis on the way to the Great Hall.

Draco wasn't at lunch, so Ginny found that it was much easier to feed herself. Just as Hermione had tipped off, Ron had told Ginny while they were eating, that Michael was going to watch her for the rest of the day. Ginny, not wanting to look suspicious, acted as she usually did--indifferently.

As the Gryffindor quidditch team was walking out to the pitch, Harry managed to get Ron to the front of the group while Ginny dropped to the back with Michael Corner, where she told him about her and Draco. Michael, just as Hermione had thought, was all but willing to help Ginny.

When the other chasers saw Michael snickering at a smiling Ginny, they looked at each other questioningly. They dropped to the back of the group to find out what was going on. It was then that Ginny caught them up on her and Draco, as well. Just as during the conversation that Draco had overheard at the lake, one of the chasers seemed to be very accepting, while the other seemed to be a lot more hesitant.

Practice had gone very well. The chasers had all of their plays down to the dot. Ron's form was magnificent, and the only attempts that got passed him, were, unsurprisingly, Ginny's. In a little more than a half an hour, Harry had caught the snitch three times. Seamus and Dean rotated aiming bludgers in the direction of either the chasers and Ron or Harry--all of whom were hit at least twice.

After four hard hours of practice, the entire team made their way to the ground, Michael staring at them speechlessly.

"Don't go off telling your house team about our strategies, now, Corner, " Harry chuckled.

"Th-that was amazing," Michael said in awe.

"We've had better sessions," said Seamus.

"_Better sessions_? Is that even possible?" Michael asked, his mouth agape.

The team laughed.

Seamus, Harry, and Dean immediately made their way to the boys' dressing rooms, while Ginny's fellow chasers made their way to the girls'.

Ron was giving Ginny another lecture, which she did not hear a word of. She had been so used to these by now, that his words just seemed to automatically tune out. She was thinking of how she was going to talk to Draco. Ginny had just decided to talk to Michael about it, when she was snapped out of her thoughts by Michael grabbing her elbow and leading her to the girls' dressing room. Ron must have finished.

"Ow!" Ginny squealed, ripping her elbow from Michael's tight grasp. She cradled her elbow over exaggeratingly and threw him a mock glare. "What's the rush for?"

Michael smiled, "You'll see."

Just as Ginny and Michael reached the girls' dressing rooms, the other chasers were leaving rather hurriedly.

Ginny looked at them questioningly. "Dressed already? I know Ron tends to drag on those lectures of his, but we weren't gone for that long."

"Well, it seems that we are not wanted here, _per say_," one of the girls--the one that didn't approve of Draco--said slightly bitterly.

"What do you mean 'not wanted her--" Ginny was cut off when the other girl--the one that did approve of Draco--grabbed her teammate and headed toward the castle, stopping only to peck Ginny on the cheek and say, "We'll see you later, then, Gin."

Ginny stood in the light snow confused, white flakes falling softly around her. "What was that all about?" she asked Michael. When he didn't answer, she turned to look at him. There was a strange smile on his face. "Michael?"

"I'll see you later, Ginny. Meet me near the old D.A. room just before dinner."

"But--"

"Make sure you talk to Malfoy, okay, Gin?" Michael shouted over his shoulder and made his way toward the castle.

"Yeah, okay," Ginny whispered to herself. She slightly shook her head at her friends' odd behaviour. She began walking toward the dressing room.

Just as she was about to walk through the door, Ginny realised something and smiled. If what she thought was correct, then she was going to have a little fun with it.

Ginny walked into the dressing room looking tired. She hid a small smile as she smelled a hint of his cologne. She walked over to her things, set down her broom, and turned to sit down slowly on the bench. She was facing the centre of the room. Ginny took off her quidditch robes seductively. Then she stood, and bent down to remove her shoes and socks. She undid her quidditch trousers, and shimmied out of them slowly. After tossing her trousers behind her with the rest of her things, Ginny sat again and began to play with the hem of her quidditch jumper before she finally pulled it over her head and tossed it behind her. She was in nothing but a white cotton bra and matching knickers when she raised her arms to release her hair from its messy ponytail. She shook it out teasingly. Ginny hid another smile when she heard a soft growl.

Ginny stood slowly, picked up a towel and her wand, and began to walk toward the showers. When she was finished she made sure to put her underwear back on, wrap the towel around her, and perform a quick drying spell on her hair. As soon as she walked out of the showers, she made her way toward her things. Once she reached the bench, a pair of strong hands grabbed her waist and pulled her back against a firm chest. Ginny smiled.

"You knew I was here, then?" Draco breathed into Ginny's ear.

Ginny turned so that they were now fully facing each other. "Of course. I could make out that smell of yours anywhere," Ginny said before reaching up to kiss him.

Draco groaned and pulled her even closer to him. When Ginny began to respond to Draco's tongue with her own, the kiss immediately went from innocent to passionate.

Ginny pulled away reluctantly, slightly panting. "We need to talk, Draco."

Draco rested his forehead against Ginny's. "I know."

Ginny and Draco told each other everything without moving from each other's arms.

Draco told her about his housemates, his letter to his mother, and his conversation with Snape.

Ginny told him about her brothers' ultimatum, her parents, and Hermione. She didn't feel it was time to tell him about Harry yet, other than that he was okay with them, so she didn't.

Ginny rested her head against Draco's chest and Draco rested his chin atop of Ginny's blood-red hair. They stood quietly, content with just being in each other's arms.

"Ginny?"

"Hmm?"

Draco lifted his head and, with a long finger, tilted Ginny's chin upwards so that he could look into her eyes.

"Why'd you say no?"


	22. Chapter 22: One Good Virtue

****

One Good Virtue

Ginny cast her eyes down. She moved out of Draco's arms and turned to pull on her clothes.

Ginny had pulled on her skirt and was beginning to button her blouse when Draco realized she wasn't going to say anything.

He moved forward, gently grabbed her by the waist, and turned her to face him. Her hands were shaking and her fingers fumbled with the buttons of her blouse. Draco gently brushed her hands away and slowly buttoned the blouse for her. As he did so he said, "I know it wasn't because of your family. Because if that were the case, you wouldn't have gotten involved with me in the first place. You know who I am. You know how I was raised. So you know I would have asked your father properly for your hand in marriage, anyway." Draco had finished the buttoning and began to straiten the imaginary creases of the blouse. "You know my mother will love you, and you know I can very well protect you and her from my father. So, why did you say no?"

When Ginny said nothing, Draco lifted her chin once more, and asked her, "You're afraid to marry me, aren't you?" The look in Ginny's eyes gave him her silent answer. He felt unfamiliar shoots of pain ripple through his chest. He paused, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he found tears brimming Ginny's eyes. "We love each other, Ginny. You know that. Why are you afraid of marrying me?"

Draco used his thumbs to swipe away the tears that began to slide down Ginny's cheeks. She hesitated before answering him. "I-I over heard a couple of girls in the Gryffindor common room a couple of weeks back. T-they said that Slytherin men were accustomed t-to being unfaithful and some even b-beat their wives," said Ginny, stuttering through her tears. "I-I know you love me, but I-I just can't help but think, what if that happened t-to me, u-us?"

Draco allowed his hands to fall from her face to her waist. He gripped her possessively and brought her closer to him. Ginny, once again, cast her eyes down.

"Look at me, Ginny," said Draco firmly.

Ginny sniffled and slowly raised her eyes to meet his. "If there is one good virtue that the Malfoy men have, it's being faithful to their wives. Yes, my father yelled at my mother, yes, he threatened her, and yes, he did it more than just a few times. But he never laid a finger on her and was never unfaithful." Draco's eyes were pleading. "As un-Malfoy-ish as I may sound, I will never hurt you, Ginny. In anyway, shape, or form. I swear it on my life."

For a long time Ginny searched his eyes and saw no trace of falsehood. She smiled a small genuine smile and hugged him. She rose to the tip of her toes and said softly into his right ear, "Ask me again."

Draco pulled back, just far enough to look into Ginny's eyes. He removed a slender black box from his robes pocket and opened it. Inside were the two pins of the lion and the serpent. He placed both pins in his right hand and tossed the box aside. He brought his hand up so that it was at Ginny's eye level, and, once again, the eyes of both pins glowed and were replaced by a stunning diamond ring.

"Will you marry me, Ginny?" Draco asked softly.

"Of course I will, Draco," Ginny smiled up at him.

Draco couldn't help the stupid grin of happiness that crawled its way onto his face. He went in to give her another passionate kiss.

Ginny stopped him. "You do know that you're supposed to slip the ring onto my finger before we snog, don't you? It _is _called the post-proposal snog for a reason, you know."

****

Michael was already waiting for Ginny outside the door to the Room of Requirement.

He was grinning like mad, "Hey, Gin. Enjoy your shower?"

Ginny elbowed him roughly in the stomach.

"Hey! What was--"

"Yes, Michael. I enjoyed it very much."

As they were making their way toward the Great Hall, Ginny told Michael about what happened in the girls' dressing room that afternoon, but omitted the significant fact that Draco had re-proposed and that she had said yes.

The Great Hall was adorned with the traditional annual Halloween decor. Pumpkins--some with goofy faces and others with sinister ones--and candles floated above the students and staff.

Draco Malfoy walked through the tall oak doors of the Great Hall. The pointing and whispering, as expected, began immediately.

"Where are they?" Ron was tapping his foot, waiting impatiently for Michael to arrive with Ginny, all the while staring daggers at Draco.

Hermione turned to regard her boyfriend. "Perhaps they're getting re-acquainted?" Hermione whispered into Ron's ear. She wasn't exactly lying. She had no doubt in her mind that Michael and Ginny were catching up and all, just not in the way Ron would hope.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Ron turned to look at Hermione and then at Harry. He was smiling quite jubilantly. "I always did like that Corner boy."

"Of course you have, Ron," said Hermione. She and Harry both looked at each other and hid their knowing grins as they sipped their respective goblets.

It was then that Michael and Ginny entered the Great Hall, arm in arm, laughing.

The majority of the hall froze as they saw the two walk in. Only a very select few knew of Michael's homosexuality, so everyone was quite surprised to see them walk in as they did.

Ron's smile widened and his chest had puffed out--both of which were gestures that showed he approved of what he saw. He looked over at Draco with a triumphant glare. Ron was surprised to see that Draco was watching Michael lead Ginny to her brother's side with mild amusement.

"And here's your dear sister, Mr. Weasley," said Michael, bowing slightly to Harry and Hermione before heading to the Ravenclaw table.

Before anyone else could say anything, Dumbledore had risen from his seat to make his annual pre-Halloween feast speech. Ginny fiddled with her right ring finger while she snuck glances at Draco across the hall. No one seemed to notice the glimmering diamond that adorned it.

At the Burrow, Bill was alone in the kitchen with his mother. They had just finished tidying up after dinner when Bill sat his mother down at the kitchen table and brought up the delicate subject of her daughter and her 'unsuitable' boyfriend.

"No, I will hear no more of it, Bill. Your sister cannot see him," she practically yelled.

"Mum, be reasonable now," Bill tried to quiet her down.

"Reasonable? What do you mean 'be reasonable'? My daughter has been brainwashed to think she is in love with a Malfoy. I will be damned before I allow this to go any further!"

"Mum, she hasn't been brainwashed. She truly does love him. Just give Malfoy a chance, that's all Ginny's asking for," said Bill.

"It isn't possible for a Malfoy and a Weasley to fall in love," Mrs. Weasley snapped at her eldest son.

"Why's that?" asked Bill.

"Because Malfoys and Weasleys know better than to allow themselves to." Mrs. Weasley froze and blanched as she realised what she had just said.

"I thought you always said that you couldn't choose who you fall in love with," Bill said, knowing he had touched something. "Have you ever even seen Ginny and Malfoy together, Mum? Even though he'll most likely deny it, even Ron saw the bond between them. Did you know Ginny's been a complete mess since you and dad left the castle? I know it's only been a few hours, but Ron owled that she hasn't spoken a single word. She doesn't do anything, but stare out the windows in the Gryffindor common room."

Mrs. Weasley looked down at her hands, which rested on top of the table. She took a deep breath. Her eyes began to water and she shook her head as she looked up at her son. "Are you sure about them, Bill? I've worked too hard to keep my baby happy. I won't be able to forgive myself if she ever gets hurt."

"Mum, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure," Bill took his mother's hands in his.

Mrs. Weasley smiled through her tear brimmed eyes. "I'll try and talk to your father, then."

"I'm sure Ginny will really appreciate that, mum."

They both were in the process of getting up from the table when a beautiful white bird began to tap at the window. Bill and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other for a moment before Bill finally went over to the window and let the bird in.

As soon as the window opened, it flew elegantly into the kitchen and landed right before Mrs. Weasley on the kitchen table. The bird stuck out its left leg to bring their attention to an expensive and elegant looking piece of parchment. Mrs. Weasley hesitantly removed the parchment from the birds leg. Once she did, the bird gracefully took off through the opened window.

Once the bird could no longer be seen, Mrs. Weasley looked back at the piece of parchment she held within her hands. There was no envelope, so she flipped it over to see that the folds were held closed by an old fashioned seal. A seal which happened to be in the shape of the Malfoy Crest.

Bill noticed this as well and asked, "What do you think she has to say about this whole thing?"

"What makes you so sure she even knows?" Molly asked, quietly.

"Of course, she knows. Why else would Narcissa Malfoy owl you?"

"I don't know." Molly sat down and broke the seal.

"Well, what does it say?" Bill asked as she saw her mum re-read the letter for the fifth time.

"She's invited me for tea, next weekend. At the Malfoy Manner."

(A/N: Please review.)


	23. Chapter 23: Sweet Cotton Candy

Sweet Cotton Candy  
  
(A/N: I've just realised that I've been spelling Seamus' last name wrong throughout the entire story. So please disregard all the 'Finnegan's and replace them with 'Finnigan's.  
  
I've tried my best to keep everyone in this story in character. I do understand that by making Michael Corner gay, I'm sort of contradicting that. I would just like to make it clear that Michael Corner's homosexuality is the most out of character I am going to get in this story.)  
  
The following week went by without incident. Bill had sent Ginny an owl, informing her of their mum's approval. Word of Ginny and Draco's relationship not being such a bad thing began to infiltrate the Gryffindor common room. Colin, Michael, and Hermione afforded Ginny and Draco hours to themselves, and Ron was completely oblivious to it all.  
  
It was Saturday morning and the trio was waiting for Ginny in the common room. The Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match was to take place after breakfast. The plan was that all of them would go together, along with Michael Corner. Or at least that was the plan that Ron knew of.  
  
"What could possibly be taking her so long?" asked Harry to no one in particular.  
  
"She's a little jittery," Harry turned to look at Hermione, who was arm in arm with Ron. "Someone has a little surprise for her." Hermione grinned, silently indicating who 'someone' was.  
  
"A surprise? Really? I wonder what it is that Michael's going to give her. I'll bet five galleons that whatever it is, it'll make Ginny very happy. They're an absolutely fantastic match, don't you two think?" Ron asked, looking at his girlfriend and, then, at his best friend.  
  
Before either Hermione or Harry had a chance to answer him, Ginny came down the staircase, wrapping her new winter cloak even tighter around her.  
  
"Good morning, Gin," Ron said nearly bouncing on his heals. "You look great, little sister." Ron took a quick double take and noticed something very odd. "Hey, Gin?"  
  
"Yes, Ron?" Ginny had already made her way toward the portrait hole, along with Harry.  
  
"Where'd you get that cloak?" Ron asked, his voice tinted with suspicion.  
  
Ginny stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
Harry felt her freeze beside him and turned quickly to address Ron, "I got it for her birthday. You like?"  
  
"Oh. Yeah, it's really nice." Ginny exhaled at the sound of acceptance in Ron's voice. She gave Harry a look of gratitude.  
  
Ginny turned and asked as normally as she could, "So, are we going down or what?"  
  
Molly Weasley looked at herself once more in her enchanted mirror. She was wearing her best robes and still, she would look plebeian once she stepped onto the Malfoy grounds.  
  
She sighed and muttered to herself, This will just have to do.  
  
Molly picked up her wand and prepared to apparate to Malfoy Manor. She did prefer the Floo Network, but there was no way in hell that she was going worsen her appearance by getting soot all over her.  
  
Ron smiled as he waved to Ginny in the distance. He, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Michael had just entered the pitch, when Ginny and Michael decided to sit in the Ravenclaw stands.  
  
His smiled immediately ceased as he saw a blur of platinum walk past him. He grinned again, however, when he remembered who Ginny had left with hand in hand only moments ago.  
  
The trio made their way up to the Gryffindor stands. They took seats next to Dean, Seamus, the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team, and Neville.  
  
"Where's Gin?" asked Seamus.  
  
"In the Ravenclaw stands, with Michael," answered Harry.  
  
"So those two are back on, then?" Dean had to raise his voice to be heard over the ever loudening crowd.  
  
"In Ron's dreams, yeah," one of the chasers muttered. (A/N: I didn't want to make up any names. So, as you all have probably already noticed--the chasers don't have names. To help tell them apart, just remember that one is pro-DG, while the other is very anti-DG.)  
  
"What was that?" asked Neville. "We couldn't hear you."  
  
"It was nothing," the other chaser answered for her team mate, throwing her a glare as she did so.  
  
Narcissa sat looking perfect, as always, while Molly sat visibly uncomfortable, as they both awaited their tea.  
  
"So, Mrs. Malfoy..."  
  
"Please, it's Narcissa," Narcissa smiled.  
  
"Well, in that case, please, call me Molly," Molly forced herself to smile back. She couldn't say that she really liked this woman. Molly knew she didn't know enough about Narcissa Malfoy to legitimately dislike her. All she really knew was that Sirius didn't like this woman, and that was all the reason Molly needed.  
  
"Of course, Molly." Molly fought a snort.  
  
"Narcissa, I am assuming you know about your son and my daughter. I also presume, that that subject is the matter of this meeting," Molly said as politely as she could.  
  
"Yes, Molly. I very much do know, and yes, this is about them."  
  
"Well, then?" Narcissa cocked one elegant eyebrow at the sudden impoliteness that seeped its way into Molly's words.  
  
"My son has very deep feelings for your daughter, Molly. I am sure you are aware of his intentions to marry her."  
  
"Yes, I and the rest of my family are very aware of that," said Molly, lips pursed together into thin lines.  
  
"Yes, well, I see this will be difficult," Narcissa said just as their tea had appeared before them.  
  
Narcissa called for a house elf. "Will you, please, retrieve Draco's latest letter."  
  
"Y-yes, Mistress," the elf bowed low before retreating to fulfill his order.  
  
Narcissa and Molly sipped their tea in silence.  
  
The elf, soon, returned with Draco's letter.  
  
Narcissa carefully set down her teacup. "Place the letter before Mrs. Weasley, and you may leave," she nodded toward the elf, who abided dutifully.  
  
Molly set her own teacup down and eyed the letter suspiciously.  
  
"You see, Molly, the night after your daughter declined my son's proposal to wed, he sent me an owl. And I think it is best that you read it before we continue on with the matter of our children."  
  
Molly said nothing. She simply gave a curt nod, picked up the piece of parchment that lay on the table in front of her, and read it.  
  
"...and he scores!" bellowed the student commentator. "Ravenclaw leads 40-20!"  
  
It had already been twenty minutes into the game, and many of the Gryffindors were beginning to think about leaving early. No other team in school could match the current Gryffindor team. And, frankly, they now found that the games in which they did not compete to be quite boring.  
  
Harry was the only person in the Gryffindor stands that seemed to be really paying attention to the match. Of course, he was captain, and was watching only to study the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff strategies.  
  
Neville, Dean, and Seamus had long left the match. The Gryffindor chasers were quietly but intensely arguing about something. Hermione had already drifted away on Ron's shoulder, and Ron was about to drift away atop of Hermione's head.  
  
In a last attempt to try and stay awake, Ron turned his eyes toward the Ravenclaw stands. He saw no red, not even a speck. Now fully awake, he snapped his head up and scanned the Ravenclaw crowd. He soon found Michael adamantly cheering for his house team, but Ginny was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Ron! Ron!" Hermione was awoken by the shouts of Neville, who was running back up to the stands.  
  
"Ron!" Neville said, once he reached the stands. Neville was struggling to catch his breath.  
  
"What is it, Neville?" Ron then addressed Harry, "Oi, Harry. Do you know where Ginny is?"  
  
Harry turned to look at Ron. "She's with Michael."  
  
"I highly doubt that," snorted one of the chasers.  
  
"Who else would she be with," her fellow chaser glowered at her. "Of course she's with Michael," she turned to Ron.  
  
"No--," Neville shook his head fervently. "She isn't," his words were punctuated by pants, "She's-down there-with him-Seamus and Dean-have gotten a-hold of him-you need-to get-down there."  
  
"Who's--," Hermione's question trailed off, when she realise who Neville was talking about.  
  
"Ron," Hermione was too late. Ron had already sprinted down the stairs toward the grounds.  
  
Hermione turned to look at Harry, who looked at her right back. With a single nod, Harry ran after Ron.  
  
Hermione took a deep breath before making her way after Ron, as well.  
  
Molly found herself speechless as she finished the letter. She carefully set the piece of parchment back down in front of her and stared down at her hands.  
  
"My son is a very complicated young man, Molly. His father made sure of that. He secures himself within very thick walls. So thick, in fact, that not even I can fully see him. But it seems that your dear Ginevra, can."  
  
Molly looked up to stare at Narcissa. She was still without words.  
  
"You have come with many doubts and fears, I am sure. But as you can see," Narcissa gestured her left hand toward the letter, "any doubts you may have had should now be diminished. Now for the fears." Narcissa paused to take a sip from her tea and set the cup back down again. "My husband never loved me. Unlike you, Molly, I was never blessed with that gift," Molly found it strange that there was no hurt or emotion in Narcissa's voice as she said this. It was as if she had long accepted this fact, maybe even too long. "However, he did somewhat respect me." Narcissa paused to take another sip of tea. "You see, the worst he ever did to me was yell. He would threaten my life on a nearly daily basis, but I always knew that unless the Dark Lord ordered him to, that was all they were--threats. He never hit me, and every night, it was my bed that he returned to."  
  
"And this should erase my fears because..." Molly's voice was soft and had lost all traces of its earlier malice.  
  
Narcissa took another sip of tea. "He treated me well, considering the fact that he didn't love me and that he had had such a bad role model in his own father. My son loves Ginevra, and he knows much better than Lucius. He will make sure she is happy, even if it kills him."  
  
"Why should I be so sure of that?" Molly asked quietly.  
  
"Love is a very strong emotion that is not controlled but controls. Seeing as I am who I am, one would think that you would know that a hundred times better than I."  
  
"Dean, Seamus, stop!" Ginny yelled at her teammates.  
  
Ginny and Draco had been making their way toward the castle from the lake when they were spotted by Dean, Seamus, and Neville.  
  
Dean and Seamus had immediately pounced. Neville went to get Ron.  
  
No punches had been thrown yet, but Merlin only knew how much longer that would last.  
  
"Didn't Ron make it clear enough for you, Malfoy?" said Dean, who found the whole situation a bit amusing.  
  
"Do you need the rest of Gryffindor house to help you get the damn message?" spat Seamus, who did not find the situation amusing at all.  
  
"And what message would that be, Finnegan? That Gryffindors are pathetic twits who make the mistake of looking down upon anyone who does not fit into their sweet cotton candy world?" Draco leered.  
  
"Ah, but, Malfoy. Have you forgotten? The fair lady your delusional mind believes is yours is the purest that a Gryffindor can get," Seamus lunged, but Dean managed to grab a hold of him just in time.  
  
"Just leave, Malfoy. Ron's going to get here soon. Just go," said Dean struggling to keep hold of Seamus.  
  
"Draco, come on. Let's go," said Ginny, pulling on Draco's arm.  
  
"Why?" Draco snapped as he ripped his arm out of Ginny's grasp. Ginny was visibly taken aback by this.  
  
"Draco?" Ginny asked softly.  
  
"Well, why? Why should we just go and hide?" Draco shouted. "You'll just end up going back to that dammed tower, get told, cry your eyes out, and not speak to me for another week." Draco was breathing very heavily as he looked at Ginny. "Everyone in this damn school knows about us, it's not like we have anything to hide."  
  
"B-but aren't you afra-" Draco cut her off with a very cold laugh.  
  
"Afraid? Of Ronald Weasley? Surely you jest, Ginny. Your brother is nothing to me. You'll know of real fear when my father finds out about us."  
  
Harry had caught up to Ron just before Ginny and Draco came into view.  
  
A loud eruption of cheers came from inside the pitch. The game was over, and Ravenclaw had won.  
  
All Harry and Ron saw was Draco yelling at Ginny. Ron sprinted toward Draco with such speed that Harry was left biting the dust.  
  
Students began filing out of the pitch.  
  
Ginny was the first to see Ron. Draco noticed him only after Ginny had shoved him aside and she was already lying on the ground.  
  
Ron had thrown his fist at the very last second with everything he had. He realised he had hit the wrong person when he looked up and saw tendrils of blood red flying through the air.

(A/N: Review Please!)


	24. Chapter 24: Same Boat

****

Same Boat

The first thing Hermione saw was Ron swinging his right arm. "Ron!" She had expected to see a purple faced Draco. What she saw was Ginny's body hit the ground. Hermione skidded to a halt beside a frozen Harry. "What did you do?" she whispered.

Ron gave no answer. He stood motionless where he was, staring at his unconscious sister.

Draco fell to his knees beside Ginny to examine her body. When he was sure that she had only been knocked unconscious, he stood, anger coursing through his body. Draco drew his wand, turned to face Ron, and sent him flying. Draco then proceeded to throw hex after hex at the boy Ginny called her brother. By the time Draco had stopped, Ron's face was flashing all the colours of the rainbow in a nice rotation. Ron's left arm lay boneless at his side, there were burnt holes scattered all over his robes, and boils were beginning to rise all over his skin. Draco could and would have thrown _a lot _more _dangerous _and _darker _hexes at Ron, but didn't for Ginny's sake.

The crowd from the pitch halted as they descended upon the scene.

Michael Corner fought his way through the crowd. The first thing he saw was Ginny lying on the ground. He tore toward her to make sure she was okay. Michael looked up and saw Draco gripping his wand fiercely in his right hand. Ron was now sitting on the ground, still motionless and staring at Ginny.

"What bloody happened?" When he got no answer, Michael stood and yelled to the crowd, "Someone get Pomfrey."

"He hit her," said Seamus in a subdued voice.

"What?" said Michael turning to look at Seamus, "Who hit who?"

"I hit her," Michael whipped around his head toward Ron.

"You what?" asked Michael, genuinely believing he heard wrong.

"He hit her," spat Draco, whose body shook from the urge to put Ron under the Crutacius Curse. "He hit his own bloody sister."

It was like a chaotic tennis match. The crowd turned their heads in synchronization as each person spoke.

"G-ginny? Ginny?" Ron began to crawl toward his sister. Draco's eyes followed his every movement. When Ron had reached her he gently brushed away flakes of snow that had fallen onto her face. "Ginny?"

There was a loud shuffling of feet, as a path was cleared through the crowd of students as Professor Snape made his way toward the centre of the crowd. When he finally reached the centre, he stopped to take in the scene before him. He raised a single greasy brow and drawled softly, "Well, now. What do we have here?"

Everything was silent except for the occasional rustling of robes.

Snape looked around at the crowd, "All of you. Back to the castle."

Without another word everyone, but Michael, Dean, Seamus, Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Gryffindor chasers, began to make their way to the castle.

The Slytherin upperclassmen, who by that time had gathered in the crowd directly behind Draco, were the last to leave.

"Please make way," said Madam Pomfrey, as she hurriedly made her way through the castle bound students. The school nurse halted at the sight of Snape. "Severus, I was informed by a student that--Oh, my!" Pomfrey gasped at the sight of Ginny on the ground, a hint of purple beginning to stain the girl's porcelain skin. Pomfrey shooed Michael and Ron away to kneel beside the red haired girl. "What happened?" She yelled as she examined Ginny's body for further damages. When no one answered her, Pomfrey looked up at the students that stood before her.

"Well? What happened?" scoffed Snape, looking around at the students, as well. Again, there was only silence. Growing impatient, Snape turned toward the head girl and barked, "Granger, what happened?"

"A-all I saw was Ron throwing a punch at Malfoy. But when I arrived, it was Ginny who was knocked out, Sir," There was a pause before Hermione answered rather softly.

"W-what in the heavens--Mister Malfoy what did you do to Mister Weasley?" gasped Madam Pomfrey indignantly when she finally took notice of Ron and Draco.

Again, Madam Pomfrey received only silence as her answer. After a loud huff, she stood, conjured up two stretchers, and laid Ginny onto one of them. "Mister Weasley, please get onto the stretcher," Pomfrey addressed Ron. When Ron made no move, Pomfrey took it upon herself to float Ron onto the stretcher. As she did so, Ron did nothing to protest.

"I am sure you will be able to take care of this, Professor," Pomfrey gestured toward the other students as she addressed Snape.

Snape gave a curt nod, and the school nurse immediately headed for the infirmary, both stretchers floating behind her while she muttered huffily under her breath about the carelessness of today's youth.

"While I highly doubt that there is a legitimate explanation as to why both Weasleys are now on their way to the infirmary, I am afraid I must go against my better judgement and ask you all to amuse me," drawled Snape as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Weasley hit his sister," Draco forced himself to say calmly.

"Miss Granger has already informed me of that, Mister Malfoy," said Snape. The Potions Master eyed Draco's wand, which he was still grasping fiercely. "I am assuming that Mister Weasley's beautiful display of rainbow coloured boils was a gift, courtesy of you."

"I could have done _much_ worse, Professor, and you know it," said Draco, making eye contact with his mentor.

"Of course, you could have. You were, after all, _trained by the best_, right Malfoy?" spat one of the chasers.

"I am tired of this. What, exactly do you have against him, anyway?" the other chaser asked her team mate.

"Oh, stop acting like some...some-"

"Some one who doesn't judge others," Michael cut her (anti-DG) off.

"And what is there to _judge_?" Seamus looked at Corner as if he were crazy. "He's a bloody fucking Malfoy."

"And?" asked his team mate (pro-DG).

"And-"

"Why were you yelling at her?" Seamus hushed he heard Harry threw the question at Draco. Harry's voice held an shielded angry tone.

Draco looked up at him, his face expressionless. "It is nothing of your concern, Potter."

"It damn, well is," Harry yelled angrily. "I've been going behind my best friend's back to help the girl that rejected me. And to do what? To help her get some alone time with the boy she rejected me for, the boy who is third on my all time hate list. You!" Harry was breathing heavily from his rant.

"Harry," Harry turned to look at Dean, "I heard the whole thing, and it wasn't anything to worry about."

"Now, as entertaining as this little spat has afforded me," sarcasm was dripping from Snape's words, "I am afraid that I have better things to do." Snape uncrossed his arms. "Seeing as the only punishable students of this spectacle are Mister Malfoy and Mister Weasley, I will have to ask all of you to return to the castle."

When no one moved, Snape barked, "Now." The eight students silently began to make their way toward the castle. Just as Draco was about to turn around and follow behind everyone in a safe distance, Snape rose his voice, "Malfoy, I would like a word with you in my office after lunch."

Malfoy nodded once to Snape, before continuing his way to the castle.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley turned her head to look back at Malfoy Manor. Narcissa Malfoy was standing just before the gates watching her off.

Just before Molly had left the Manor, both women were less than slightly surprised that Nacissa received owl addressed from Draco, informing his mother of Ginny's acceptance to his second proposal.

Narcissa had asked her to, again, come to the Manor the following week. They would discuss wedding preparations and pick out the best options available, for Ginny to choose from.

For centuries, a spell over the Manor had been arranged so that only the family could apparate in and out of its grounds.

Molly turned to look forward again just as she stepped out of the spell's range. She had no idea of how she was going to convince her husband and her sons that the supposed love between her daughter and Draco Malfoy was actually true.

She sighed deeply as she rose her wand and dissaparated back to the Burrow.

* * *

Needing to cool down, Draco decided to skip lunch. So while Harry, Dean, Seamus, Hermione, Neville, the Gryffindor chasers, and Michael made their way to the Great Hall to join the rest of the school for lunch, Draco made his way toward the Astronomy Tower, or more precisely, the Founders' Room.

He had just entered the last corridor to the tower when he heard a slam come from the other side of one of the un-used room doors near him. He then heard, what sounded like a small whimper. A small _feminine _whimper. A small _pleased feminine _whimper.

Draco knew all to well what was happening behind that door. Sure Ginny was a virgin, but that didn't mean he was one as well.

Deciding to amuse himself a bit by scaring the living day lights out of the not so discreet couple, Draco used his sleeve to polish his prefect badge to a glaring shine before marching right up to the door and practically kicking it open.

"Hmm..." Draco hummed in thought sarcastically. He stood in the door frame as he looked at the couple fall to the floor.

To lessen her fall, the black haired boy had made sure that the blonde haired girl had landed on his chest.

"Now what have I caught thi--" Draco froze as he realized who the two people on the floor were.

At the sound of Draco's voice, the boy quickly took off his own robe to throw onto the blouse-less girl, who's blue and grey striped tie was wrapped very askew around her slender neck.

* * *

The Great Hall was abuzz with the post-quidditch game spectacle. Sure, they quieted down a bit when Michael and the rest of the Gryffindors had walked into the hall, but they were still abuzz, nonetheless.

Rumours were flying about like wild fire. _Ron didn't really hit Ginny, Malfoy did. Malfoy forced Ginny to take the hit for him. Ginny wasn't hit at all; she had a fainting spell. Ron hit her out of disgust when he found out that Ginny was pregnant with Malfoy's baby. _The rumours went on and on.

* * *

"Draco..." said the boy as he saw who had kicked the door down.

Draco abruptly turned, walked out of the door frame, and shut the door behind him. He walked to the wall opposite the room and leaned against the cold stone.

A minute later a quite dishevelled Blaise Zabini walked out of the room, followed by a just as dishevelled Luna Lovegood.

Luna was now wearing her own robe, but her tie was still visibly askew. Her swollen lips indicated that she had just been thoroughly ravished. She was running her fingers through her hair, in an attempt to bring it back from its dishevelled state. It seemed as if she didn't even notice that Draco was there. Then, as if she had just seen him walking down the street, she said in her distant voice, "Hello, Draco. Doing well, I hope," as she turned to walk away.

Blaise followed her with his eyes until she was all the way down the corridor and had already turned the corner. His robe was thrown across his shoulder. His uniform dress shirt was un-tucked, and, under his jumper, it was clear that many of his buttons had been unfastened.

When Blaise finally turned to look at Draco, Draco simply raised a very questioning eyebrow and smirked.

"Wipe that smirk off, Draco," Blaise said as he shrugged on his robe, "It's not like you don't have any secret discretions."

Draco lowered his brow, but his smirk only widened. "I never said that I didn't." Draco paused, seemingly trying to contain a chuckle. "But, honestly, Blaise. Loony Lovegood? I mean at least Ginny's a pureblood."

"Well, at least Luna isn't a peasant." Draco leaned up off the stone wall as his eyes flashed dangerously at Blaise's words. "Sorry. I didn't mean that," Blaise put his hands up and took a step back.

Draco leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "So, when did this all happen?"

Blaise put his hands in his pockets. "During Summer Holiday." At the questioning look on Draco's face, Blaise continued, "There was a banquet. My family and hers were invited. Something happened, and here we are now."

"And what about that girl. The fifth year you took to the Ball?" asked Draco.

"Let's just say that Luna and I weren't as bold as you and Weasley were."

"Well, it seems that we're in the same boat now, doesn't it," smirked Draco.

"Yeah, it does," Blaise smirked back. "Only your side of the boat seems to be attracting a few sharks," Blaise's smirk widened. "Well, actually more than a few."

* * *

In the infirmary, Ron was laying on his back in one of the beds. His head was turned to his left as he watched Ginny sleep. He still couldn't believe he had hit her. Growing up in the Weasley household, he, along with the rest of his brothers, were always told to never hit girls. The fact that he did not only hit a girl, but hit his sister, made him want to pound his own head in.

What made it worse was that Ginny had taken Malfoy's hit. He knew Ginny and Draco cared about each other. Like he had said to Harry, he wasn't completely blind. But he didn't think it was to the point where they were willing to take physical abuse for one another.

Ron sighed and closed his eyes. Whether he liked it or not, it seemed that he had to re-examine this whole Ginny-Malfoy thing. He might not like the git, but his sister obviously did.

He scrunched his eye lids closed as he felt a wave of a rather uncomfortable feeling from the potion Madam Pomfrey had made him take earlier. He looked at his boneless arm and groaned as he realized that he would soon be in a lot of pain.

Oh, how he hated, Malfoy.

(A/N: Reviews would be greatly appretiated. And I would like to take this opportunity to recognize my ever so patient and beloved beta, V...)


	25. Chapter 25: Once Upon A Dream

**Once Upon A Dream**

(Author's Note: Here's my comedic relief chapter. I don't know when I'm going to be able to update next. School has just started and I'm already dying.)

_Harry, Ron, Draco, and Ginny were all in a very empty Great Hall._

"_Ron? How in the hell could you support this?" yelled Harry at the top of his longs._

"_I don't support this, Harry," replied Ron, his tone dripping with disapproval as he looked at Malfoy, who was currently embracing Ginny, his new fiancé._

"_Then why are you just standing here and not stopping this," Harry roared as he gestured emphatically toward the couple. _

"_Because, Harry...he makes her happy," Ron said staring at the smile on Ginny's face._

"He makes her happy_," repeated Harry forcefully. "And for how long will that last, Ron? How long will that last until he breaks Ginny's heart? Or worse, breaks your family's?"_

_Ron whipped his head around to address his best friend, "And what's that supposed to mean?"_

"_What I mean, Ron, is that Ginny would be much safer with _me_," Harry said in a voice that was a mere fraction of his earlier volume._

"_As much as I would love her to be with you, Harry. She doesn't love you like she loves Malfoy," Ron shook his bowed head. "I don't know why, but she just doesn't."_

"_I can change that," Harry said a bit too confidently._

"_What?"_

"_I mean, if you give me just one chance. If you yank her away from Malfoy for just a day, I swear I can get her to fall in love with me," replied Harry._

_All of a sudden Luna Lovegood appeared next to Ron. "But do you love her, Harry?"_

"_Of-"_

_Just as suddenly as Luna had, Blaise Zabini appeared behind Harry. "Don't lie, Potter. You might love her as a sister. But let's face it, as of now, you only pay attention to her because the one person that could never best you, finally has."_

_Blaise moved from behind Harry to offer his arm to Luna, "Would you do me the honor of having this dance?" _

_Suddenly, all the tables disappeared, the candles dimmed, and a tune began to play. _

_At the sound of the music, Ginny and Draco turned to see their friends dancing. Ginny recognized this tune. Her father had brought home a new muggle contraption called a Stereo. It came with a little black box that fit right into one of the Stereo's mouths. It played a wonderful tune that she had heard earlier along with pictures in a box that muggles called a Television. The series of pictures was called "Sleeping Beauty."_

_Luna sang along to the song as Blaise held her in his arms, _

"_I know you _

_I've walked with you _

_Once upon a dream_

_I know you_

_The gleam in your eyes_

_Is so familiar a gleam_

_And I know it's true_

_That visions are seldom_

_All they seem_

_But if I..."_

_Ginny giggled as Draco shook his head at the scene. _

_Harry was already well on his way to beat Malfoy's head in, when Ron ran to stop him. Ron had just grabbed Harry's arms before he had the chance to even raise them._

_Ginny glared at Harry, then turned to look at Ron, "I really appreciate this Ron."_

_Ginny moved away from Draco and placed an immobilizing charm on Harry before running into her brother's arms for a hug. _

_Ron, Ginny, and Draco looked back toward the dancing couple when they heard Blaise begin to sing along with Luna, _

"_I know you _

_I've walked with you _

_Once upon a dream_

_I know you_

_The gleam in your eyes_

_Is so familiar a gleam_

_And I know it's true_

_That visions are seldom_

_All they seem_

_But if I..."_

_Ginny smiled as she saw Luna's robes changing from Ravenclaw blue to Slytherin green and back again every two seconds._

* * *

Draco paused from his stroking of Ginny's hair when he saw her smile in her sleep. If it were possible, he found that she was even more beautiful like this. She was truly a sleeping beauty. 

He looked up at the bed next to Ginny's and saw her brother. Although, Ron was asleep, it was very obvious he was in pain. Draco was surprised that Ginny hadn't been awaken by Ron's screaming yet.

* * *

_Ginny removed herself from Ron's arms, and Ron let her go reluctantly. _

_Draco saw the look of hesitance in Ron's face when Ginny made her way back into his arms. Draco locked his eyes with Ron's and said, "Don't worry, Weasley. I won't hurt her. Ever."_

_Ron simply nodded. He, then, looked at his still immobilized best friend and turned to Ginny. "You know you can't just leave him like that."_

"_Who said?" snorted Draco._

_Ginny glared playfully at him. "I know, Ron. I'll lift the spell," Ginny smiled at her brother._

_The music had stopped and the candles brightened back to normalcy. Blaise and Luna received an applaud from Ginny and Draco. Though, unlike Draco, Ginny didn't have an amused smirk on her face. _

_Blaise smirked right back._

"_Doesn't this smirking contest ever end?" Ginny asked the two Slytherin boys._

_Blaise and Draco simply smirked at her._

"_I think that's a 'no', Ginny," said Luna distractedly. She was eyeing the immobile form of Harry quite intently. _

_Blaise saw this. "What is this? I take my eye off you for one second, and you're already looking for the next dark haired boy to pounce on?" Blaise said in a playful tone to Luna._

"_Ginny," said Ron, while eyeing Harry. Ginny got her brother's message and pulled out her wand. She walked over to Harry and undid her earlier spell. _

"_I can't believe this," said Harry with a tint of disgust. "You two will be so sorry when these Slytherin fools decide to drop you for _their Lord_," said Harry to the two girls._

_Draco and Blaise immediately made a bee-line for the Boy-Who-Was-Not-Going-To-Live-This-Time. _

_Ginny and Luna pulled out their wands hurriedly, and before the boys reached Harry, they were on the floor._

_Ron keeled over in laughter._

_Luna went to collect the obviously upset black rabbit that lay at Harry's feet. Ginny did the same, only with the white rabbit. _

"_Does my little Blaisey have a problem?" purred Luna as she cuddled the rabbit to her face. Little Blaisey didn't seem to mind much._

_Ginny simply held the white rabbit that was Draco in her hands. He began to make what sounded like whining sounds as he stared from Blaise and Luna to Ginny. _

_Ginny shifted her gaze from rabbit Draco to her brother. Ron was getting up and trying his best to collect himself. They locked eyes and Ginny smiled evilly. Rabbit Draco saw this smile and began to squirm in Ginny's hands._

"_Ron, would you like to play with it?"_

_Rabbit Draco gave out a squeal of fright._

_Ginny giggled._

* * *

Draco sighed and sat back in his seat, his fingers never leaving the silk that Ginny referred to as her hair. Though he hated to admit it, he would have to make a truce with that boy she called her brother, and he had no clue where to start. 

He glanced at the time. Lunch was almost over, and he'd have to leave for Snape's office soon.

Draco was about to stand and make his way toward the dungeons when Ginny giggled.

He paused to see Ginny's eyes begin to flutter open.

"Hello, love," said Draco when he was sure Ginny's eyes had focused.

"Hello," giggled Ginny, her dream still very fresh in her mind.

Draco raised a brow in question. "And what's so funny?"

"Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if Moody had changed you into a rabbit instead of a ferret?"

(A/N: Review! Please!)


	26. Chapter 26: No Intentions

**No Intentions**

Draco walked silently into the gloomy office of his house head.

Severus Snape was sitting as his desk, bent over a piece of parchment. The silence of the room was broken only by the slight scribbling sounds of Snape's quill.

It wasn't until five minutes after Draco had shut the door that Snape finally set his quill down and looked up from his parchment. The professor entwined his fingers and placed them on his desk as he studied his student intently.

Draco moved to take a seat in front of Snape's desk when the professor gestured for him to do so.

"Would you like to explain, what happened out there?" Snape drawled.

Draco sat with perfect posture as he answered, "You already know perfectly well what happened out there, professor."

"Well then, would you mind telling me _why _it happened?"

Draco replied with silence and averted his eyes from Snape.

The Potions Master leaned back into his seat and sighed in audibly. "Draco, I am not sure if I made myself clear the first time. So I will stress it more clearly. You need to be careful."

Draco looked up at his professor, but remained silent.

"It doesn't matter how the Weasley girl was knocked unconscious, Draco. What matters is that you were part of why it happened, and that's what makes people start their rumours around."

"I know," Draco said so softly that Snape barely heard him. Draco was still averting Snape's gaze.

Silence, again, engulfed the room as Snape continued to study his pupil. After some time, Snape pulled out a piece of parchment from under a pile of others and set it on the opposite side of his desk before Draco.

Draco eyed the parchment carefully. It was addressed to Snape, from his mother. Draco finally looked up at his professor.

"She and Molly Weasley met today for morning tea. Your mother was able to convince Molly that your love for her daughter was true and that you would rather die than hurt her. So thanks to your mother, you and Ginevra now have Molly's blessing. Molly was also there when your mother received your owl informing her of your and Ginevra's engagement," Snape said impassively.

Draco looked back down at the letter, and he could feel the weight from his shoulders lift just a tad. Having Ginny's mum on their side would help a great deal.

"Like I said before, Draco," Draco looked up at his head of house, "you must play your cards right. Watch what you say and do. Even the most harmless of arguments with Ginevra can and will be misinterpreted by her brothers and housemates."

Draco nodded.

"I suggest you owl Ginevra's mother, and get things straight with her. Maybe she can arrange for you to meet with Arthur Weasley."

"Of course, professor."

Snape nodded before picking up his quill again and turning his attentions back to his parchment.

Draco sat for five minutes before Snape gave him a formal dismissal and Draco walked out the door.

Ginny was sitting on the burgundy sofa in the Founders' Room, absentmindedly twirling her hair as she waited for Draco. None of the founders were currently in their portraits.

She was thinking about the dream she had had during her brief stay in the hospital wing. In the dream, Harry had completely opposed her relationship with Draco. Harry even went to the extent of asking Ron if he could help him break them up. Ron, on the other hand, seemed to be completely tolerant about her relationship with Draco.

She sank low into the cushions of the sofa as she burrowed her brows in thought.

If that were how her brother and Harry really felt about her and Draco, Ginny honestly wouldn't have minded at all. In fact, she almost preferred it. Sure, Harry would be the jealous prat conspiring to tear her and Draco apart, but she wouldn't mind risking that, especially if it meant that Ron would be the least bit accepting of her relationship.

The following weekend, Molly Weasley ushered all of her sons, save for Ron, into the kitchen of the Burrow.

"Mum? What is it?" Charlie prompted after five minutes of silence.

Molly looked to her eldest son. Bill gave her an encouraging smile. Molly sighed and said, "Now you all know about Ginny and Malfoy."

"Of course we do," said Fred and George bitterly in unison.

"Well...um..."

"Yes, Mum?" Charlie pressed, again.

"I've decided that we should learn to accept Ginny and Mal--I mean--Draco's relationship."

"WHAT?" screamed Percy, Charlie, and the twins.

"You--what? No!" Charlie sputtered.

"Mum? Have you forgotten who Draco Malfoy is?" said Fred.

"Have you forgotten who his _dad_ is?" said George.

"I know perfectly well who Draco and Lucius Malfoy are. But I also know that they're two different men," said Molly pointedly to her irate sons.

"Didn't you hear of how Ginny was knocked out in school?" said Percy indignantly.

"Ron was the one who hit her, Percy," Bill interjected.

"Yeah, but we don't know the whole story now, do we?" said Fred.

"No we don't, and that's why we shouldn't jump to any conclusions," replied Bill calmly.

"Look, I can't say that I'm really happy about Ginny's decision, but she's made it. And he makes her happy--"

"Happy? For how long?" Fred cut his mother off.

"Yeah, how do we know he isn't going to just throw her into the gutter when he's finished with--"

George abruptly stopped when they all heard a loud pop come from the living room. Charlie, Percy and the twins smiled.

"Oi! What are all of you doing here?" asked Arthur in surprise when he walked into the kitchen to find his five eldest sons. He immediately went to give his wife a kiss on the cheek.

"Mum, why don't you fill him in on that?"

"What's going on?" Arthur turned to ask his wife when he heard the tone of anger in Charlie's voice.

"Well, you see Arthur, we were just discussing Ginny's relationship with Draco."

Arthur stiffened at the mentioning of Draco's name. "And?"

"Well..." Molly trailed off, unsure of what to say to her husband.

"And Mum's said that she's accepted it, and that we should, too," Percy answered for her.

"WHAT?" yelled Arthur, just as his sons had. "You can't be serious Molly!"

Molly immediately straightened up, encouraged by the thought that, at least, her daughter would be happy with her. "I am, Arthur. I'm very serious."

Arthur stared at his wife in disbelief.

"And I suggest you all get used to the idea of Ginny and Mal-Draco being together. Because they will be for a very long time," Molly continued.

"Not if we can help it," said the twins in unison, just as they did in the common room the night they confronted Ginny about Draco.

"Well, you can't. Ginny's already made her decision," Molly turned toward her husband, "Draco has asked her to marry him again, and, this time, Ginny said yes."

There was a long moment of eerie silence before Charlie, Percy, and the twins began to start screaming their protests at the same time.

When all quieted down, the four boys turned their eyes on their father.

"Dad, you can't let Ginny go through with this," said Charlie.

"And why not?" said Bill, who hadn't spoken in quite some time.

"Because he's going to hurt her!" yelled the twins.

"No, he won't, and you all know it. You're all just too stubborn to admit it," said Bill, maintaining his calm demeanor.

Molly's eyes had never left her husband's form. Arthur was as stiff as ever and his face had gone from ashen white to a hideous red.

"Arthur?" Molly touched her husband's arm hesitantly.

"No," Arthur spoke so quietly that his sons had barely heard him.

"Arthur..."

"No, Molly. I refuse to let my daughter get herself into a situation where she will most likely suffer," said Arthur in a raised voice.

"But he won't--"

"No, Molly. I don't want to hear it. I don't know what has happened for you to have changed your mind so quickly, but I will hear nothing of it." Arthur put up a hand to stop his wife.

"Arth--"

Molly was cut off by a string of knocks from the front door. She took a deep breath, knowing perfectly well who was on the other side of that door. It was a Hogsmeade weekend at Hogwarts, and she had agreed to have her future son-in-law come to the Burrow to speak with her husband.

"Arthur, come with me," Molly took her husbands arm and began to lead him to the living room area.

Molly quickly turned to stop her sons from following them. "Stay here," she growled.

Arthur and Molly went to answer the door. Molly held her breath as Arthur opened the door. The holding of breath was short-lived, as Arthur immediately slammed the door shut when he saw who was on the other side.

"Arthur!" yelled Molly. She stepped in front of him to open the door.

Draco Malfoy stood with perfect posture that radiated his good-upbringing. His hands were clasped behind his back and he gave a respectful inclination of the head to Arthur and a smile to Molly. She was very taken aback, as she hadn't known that Malfoys could do anything but sneer.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Weasley."

"Draco, I'm so glad you made it. Please, come in," smiled Molly opening the door wider to allow Draco to enter.

Arthur glared meaningfully at his wife. "What is this?" he whispered in fury at having a Malfoy set foot in his home.

"Just listen to what he has to say, Arthur. Please, if not for Ginny, then for me," Molly pleaded.

Arthur said nothing, but clutched his wand as he followed his wife lead Draco into the living room.

As soon as the three of them had reached the living room, Molly began to walk toward the kitchen.

"Molly, where are you going?" asked Arthur, clutching his wand even harder at the thought of being alone in the same room with a Malfoy.

"I'm going to check on the boys. Why don't you two just stay in here and...talk. I'll be back in a second," Molly hurriedly entered the kitchen.

Draco and Arthur stood in the living room at the Burrow in tension filled silence for a good five minutes before Draco finally spoke.

"I have no intentions of marrying her without your permission."

"Well, you don't have it," Arthur said coldly.

There was another long silence before Draco spoke again.


	27. Chapter 27: Back To Her Feet

**Back To Her Feet**

"I understand that anything I say will most likely do nothing in changing your position on the matter of me and Ginny--"

"Then why bother saying anything at all?" Arthur snapped, leveling narrowed eyes at the young man next to him.

"Let me just say this," Draco paused and took a deep breath. Arthur turned away, refusing to look at Lucius Malfoy's son, but listened nonetheless.

"She's been blessed with a loving family, something I could never even begin to fully understand--and I refuse to begrudge her such a blessing. So if you give me no other choice, then I will leave her. But know that one day she might come up to me and ask me what's more important--my life or she. I'll say my life, and she'll probably walk away never knowing that _she_ is my life."

Despite trying to fight off the sincerity in Draco's words, Arthur couldn't help the feeling of familiarity that seeped its way into his conscience.

Arthur remembered what it had been like when he had gone to Molly's parents to ask for her hand in marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Prewitt weren't exactly jumping up and down. There was no family feud between the Prewitt and the Weasley households, but Molly's parents had felt that Arthur was completely unfit to care for their daughter.

Arthur turned his head to study Draco. He wouldn't be able to live with himself, if the decision he was about to make blew up in his face. He wouldn't be able to live knowing that his little girl got her heart broken, when he could have done something about it.

"Do you love her?" Arthur asked quietly.

Draco looked Arthur in the eye and said, "Yes, I do."

"Will you take care of her?" said Mr. Weasley just as quietly.

"Of course," said Draco as he straightened up even more.

Arthur took a deep breath and reluctantly turned to fully face his future son-in-law.

Arthur's face was stern and serious. His words were spoken firmly and almost threateningly. "If you hurt her in any way, I will not only unleash my sons and Harry on you, but I will also hunt you down myself."

Draco did not say anything in return, for he didn't have to. His sincerity and seriousness about his feelings for Ginny were evident in the look on his face.

Arthur and Draco stood in the Weasley living room in comfortable silence for what seemed an eternity.

Suddenly, Arthur nodded once and said, "You have my permission."

Draco nodded back dutifully, carefully hiding his sigh of relief and urges to begin jumping off of the walls.

Draco nearly fell backwards when he heard a shriek. He turned to see that the shriek had belonged to his soon to be mother-in-law.

Molly Weasley was standing near the doorframe of the kitchen when Arthur had given Draco his approval. She was beaming at her husband.

As soon as they had heard their mother's shriek, the five Weasley boys had rushed to her side. They froze in place at the sight of Draco in their living room.

Draco smirked.

Not a split second later, Ginny's brothers charged.

They had barely taken four steps when Arthur held up his hand to halt the herd.

The Weasley boys stared on in confusion as their father turned to the spawn of Lucius Malfoy.

"Well, Draco, I'm sure it's about time that you head back to school," Arthur said, in an even tone.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for having me here," replied Draco, first nodding at Arthur and then turning to give a small bow to Molly.

"Of course, Draco, dear," beamed Molly.

Just as Draco had reached the front door, Arthur called out to him. Draco turned to face Ginny's father.

"Thank you. For seriously taking in the consideration of our feelings," said Arthur sincerely.

"Of course, Mr. Weasley," replied Draco. Just as he was about to turn and walk out the door, he looked to Ginny's brothers and said, "Good-bye, boys."

As soon as the door shut behind Draco, Percy, Charlie, and the twins all turned to their father.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" shouted Fred.

Arthur sighed and moved to take a seat on the sofa. He leaned back and rubbed his temples. "I hope you're right about this, Molly," Arthur said to his wife without looking at her.

"Right about what?" asked Charlie in a subdued voice, clearly afraid that the answer to his question was what he thought it was.

"Arthur, it's better this way. Really it is. Would you rather have Ginny sneaking off with him, having them do it anyway, without us? Without you giving her away?" Molly said softly to her husband as she moved to take a seat next to him on the sofa.

"What are you talking about?" asked George a tad fearfully, for the same thoughts that were running through Charlie's mind were now running through his own.

"But what if she gets hurt?" Arthur continued his conversation with his wife as if his sons had not been in the room.

"If she gets hurt, then she'll have learned a lesson. And we'll be there to help her back to her feet," whispered Molly as she took her husband's hand, trying to convince not only Arthur but herself as well.

"Dad, what did you do?" asked Percy, who was beginning to come to the same realisation of his brothers.

Arthur finally looked up to recognise his sons. "You're mother is right," he paused, contemplating whether or not he truly agreed with what he was about to say. "You should all start getting used to the idea of Ginny and Mal--Draco being together."

"Dad, what did you do?" asked Fred more forcefully.

"Your sister and Draco will be getting married."

Arthur braced himself for a bombardment of disputes, but, with a mixture of relief and surprise, he was instead met with complete and utter silence.

Molly looked from her sons to the time, and saw that it was nearing noon. After giving her husband a peck on the cheek, she stood and grabbed her cloak.

The six men before her all turned their heads in synchronisation with questioning and, in the cases of her sons, shocked eyes.

"I'm meeting Narcissa at the Manor, to discuss wedding arrangements," said Molly before grasping her wand and apparating out of the Burrow.


	28. Chapter 28: Merely An Option

(A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but here it is.)

**Merely An Option**

Weeks had passed since Arthur gave his blessings to Ginny for her choice of a husband. Surprisingly, it took a whole two and half weeks before anyone at Hogwarts noticed the stunning diamond that adorned Ginny's right hand. It was probably due to the fact that Ginny had religiously worn the diamond toward the inside of her palm while she was in public, but still, this was Hogwarts—one would think that the school would have noticed the second she had first walked into the Great Hall with it on.

The first person to notice had been Hermione.

_She had just taken a seat across from Ginny at breakfast, when she noticed something glimmer as Ginny reached for a piece of toast. Hermione immediately snatched up Ginny's hand and held it palm up. It was terribly fortunate that they had been the first two to show up at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, for if anyone else had been near them, they would have surely noticed Hermione's odd__behaviour. Hermione gasped before looking up to stare over the rosy__ colour that now tinted Ginny's cheeks and her downcast eyes. Before Hermione was able to form the words that they both knew she was going to say, the doors to the Hall opened, and Ron and Harry walked in. Hermione, wanting to avoid any form of an argument that early in the morning, had dropped Ginny's had immediately, and Ginny quickly brought it under the table._

During Ginny's first class of the day, Professor McGonagall caught the ring's gleam in the corner of her eye. The Gryffindor head of house had immediately halted and turned to face the youngest Weasley. Ginny had been twirling her quill between her fingers as she stared down at her piece of parchment, thinking about how she should start the essay that McGonagall had assigned for the day. Feeling McGonagall's stare, Ginny looked up to her professor. They locked eyes for a split second before McGonagall looked pointedly at Ginny's right hand. Ginny immediately dropped her hand under the desk. McGonagall studied Ginny's face before nodding to show that she understood what was going on.

_Later that day, during Potions, Ginny's partner for the day, a Hufflepuff, noticed the diamond as Ginny was cutting up the needed ingredients. Ginny's partner, at first, had said nothing, but once the class was dismissed, the__ rumours began to wreak havoc—at least among those in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. _

_Everyone seemed hesitant to let the Gryffindors and the Slytherins in on the bit of newfound information. The Slytherins…well, they were Slytherins—the Hufflepuffs were deathly afraid of them—and the Ravenclaws simply chose to ignore them. The Gryffindors, on the other hand, were of a different matter. Everyone knew how protective the older Gryffindors were over Ginny, and the last thing they wanted to do was be the messenger; especially in the case of telling Ron, no one would like to have the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a spontaneous combustion._

_The rest of the school found out just as the last class of the day was dismissed. Draco had been fulfilling Prefect duties, while Ginny had been dismissed from class early to deliver a message to another professor. Then, Draco saw her exiting a classroom after delivering the said message and followed her from a safe distance before cornering her. He bent down to kiss her and their fingers laced together; the first thing he noticed was the absence of the ring on her finger. _

_Draco was upset, to say the least._

_During potions, once the ingredients had all been prepared, Ginny's partner began to look at her with a weird and knowing grin. Ginny had tried to tell herself that it was nothing to worry about, but it unnerved her, nonetheless. When her partner (had) bent over their cauldron to add the eye of newt and Ginny was sure that no one was looking, she slid the ring off of her finger and placed it into her book bag. During lunch, Ginny slipped up to her dormitory and hid the ring in her trunk. _

_"Where's your ring?" The angry glint in his eyes had belied the calm tone in his voice._

_Ginny had immediately dropped her gaze to the floor. She knew her parents knew and semi-approved of their engagement, but the Gryffindor bravery in her came up short when it came to informing her own housemates, especially Ron, about the engagement. _

_Of course, Draco didn't understand this._

_"Where is your ring?" he asked, again, only this time you could hear the anger in his voice._

_"I took it off during Potions and slipped it back into my trunk during lunch," Ginny's voice was very soft and trembled slightly. She kept her eyes downcast._

_"And why would you do that?" he asked through gritted teeth, stepping into Ginny's face, causing her to bump her hand against the cold stone wall behind her. She was forced to stare into his eyes, and she couldn't help the tingle of fear that made its way up her spine._

_"I thought my partner noticed it," again, her voice trembled slightly._

_At the sight of fear within Ginny's eyes, he immediately soothed out his voice, "And why would that, matter?"_

_Ginny opened her mouth to speak before immediately shutting it and looking back down to the floor._

_Just as Draco slammed his hands onto the stone on either side of Ginny's head, class had been dismissed. "Dammit, Ginny! Why do you insist on appeasing those housemates of yours? They're all going to find out sometime, and you know, it's not as if they'll never speak to you again once they find out," he yelled._

_Once they heard the commotion, the students began to quicken their pace down the hall._

_A wave of anger took over Ginny, and she countered, "Oh please, Draco. It's not as if you've told any of your own housemates, yet."_

_"That's different, Ginny, and you know it."_

_"No, Draco, I'm afraid I don't." Ginny moved to push past him, but he only planted his hands against the stone more firmly, caging her._

_"I might not have yet told them, but I'm by no means trying to hide it."_

_"What are you trying to say, Draco?" Ginny whispered, deathly quiet._

_"You know perfectly well what I'm implying."_

_Ginny responded with angry silence, yet neither of them heard the nearing fleet of footsteps._

_"Ginny! We are supposed to be engaged! I thought that you were happy about that! Now I'm not so sure!" Draco yelled. _

_Ginny felt her heart break at the obvious hurt that Draco tried desperately to hide both in his voice and eyes._

_Before Ginny could say anything to fix whatever had been momentarily broken, the fleet of feet came to a thundering halt, as loud gasps of disbelief and surprise escaped the mouths of the Gryffindors and Slytherins in the sea of students._

_Luckily, the seventh year Gryffindors had not been among the crowd. _

_Blaise had stepped forward, a smirk adorning his features. The rest of the Slytherins, surprisingly, weren't that all upset, with the exception of Pansy of course._

_Colin had stepped forward and taken Ginny by the arm, uncharacteristically glaring at Draco the entire time. With Ginny firmly by his side, Colin led her and the rest of the Gryffindors in the corridor up to Gryffindor Tower. _

_Ron had not taken the news well at all. He had just received a letter from his father informing him of his sister's engagement when Colin and Ginny had entered the common room. At first he had looked up at his sister's form in shock. He had asked her if it were true, and he took her silence and avoidance of eye contact as a yes. Ever since the accident after the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff match, he had been quite lenient with Ginny about Draco, and even went out of his way to ignore the issue. But this—this could not be ignored, and he immediately went into a rant._

_Colin, along with the Gryffindors that had followed him and Ginny into the common room, moved to give the youngest Weasleys some space, for they saw Ginny's eyes begin to flare with the signature Weasley temper._

_At the questioning in Harry's eyes, Hermione felt obliged to inform Harry of Ginny and Draco's engagement. Hermione felt her stomach plummet at the disappointment and hurt that momentarily flashed across Harry's eyes. Then she thought she heard her heart rip at the clearly fake smile that Harry plastered onto his face as he said, "Terrific. I'm sure Ginny's absolutely ecstatic. She should be, you know. Malfoy might be the king of all gits, but he'll make sure she's happy." That wasn't what made her heart rip; it was what Harry mumbled after that did it, "He better."_

That had all been weeks ago, and now it was the first day of Winter Holiday.

Molly, Narcissa, and Ginny were currently sitting in the tea parlour of Malfoy Manor. They—though it was more like only Molly and Narcissa—were discussing wedding plans.

In the midst of their now fifteen-minute debate of whether or not there should be hand-woven napkins with a special embroidery symbolising the unification of the Weasley and Malfoy names, Ginny had fallen asleep.

"Molly, I understand that you may feel uncomfortable with making such expensive arrangements, but Draco and I are paying for this wedding, and we will settle for nothing less than the best for what should be the happiest day in Ginevra's life," Narcissa said calmly, but exasperatedly at the same time.

"Narcissa, please don't take this the wrong way. But I understand perfectly well whose pocket this wedding is coming out of. I also feel that with Ginny's background, having anything too frivolous or extravagant at my daughter's wedding will only serve to place a blemish on Ginny's image in the view of the high society that she is marrying into," Molly said with a mixture of anxiety and annoyance.

Narcissa was taken aback by Molly's words. "Is that what you've been worried about these past weeks?" she asked. Molly and Narcissa were near to nothing done concerning the wedding's arrangements due to these little differences, of which Narcissa had simply not understood. Now, however, it all made sense.

Narcissa sighed and placed a pale, elegant hand on top of Molly's. "You are being absolutely ridiculous, Molly. This wedding is going to be a Malfoy wedding, and extravagance comes hand in hand with the Malfoy name. Draco's guests will be expecting nothing less."

Narcissa ended by giving Molly an assuring smile. Molly nodded apprehensively, and finally, the two now had a clear path for progress in the extensive planning of the Malfoy-Weasley wedding that lay ahead.

Ginny sighed as she listened to her mother and her future mother-in-law finally agree on having the hand-woven napkins. Molly and Narcissa had been meeting to discuss wedding preparations every weekend for the past few weeks, and they had both claimed to be looking forward to her joining them. The morning of the first day of Winter Holiday, her mother had practically dragged her to the Manor. After an hour into the meeting, however, they had, as of yet, failed to ask her for her opinion on anything, not even once.

Ginny didn't really see what the whole fuss was about. The wedding wouldn't happen for another good two years—after she had graduated. Why they insisted on getting such a ridiculously early head start on the preparations was beyond her. Besides, Ginny didn't want an extravagant wedding. She wanted a wedding that would symbolise the merging of her and Draco's families completely, not just on napkins. She wanted the Malfoy elegance along with the Weasley simplicity.

Three hours later, Molly and Narcissa began to bring the meeting to a close.

They began talking about Christmas, and before long they agreed on having the year's holidays spent together. Christmas Eve would be spent at the Manor, while Christmas Day would be spent at the Burrow.

Ginny was absolutely mortified. She knew that her brothers would be damned before they ever agreed to spend Christmas with a Malfoy—even if he would eventually become family. They would try and cherish every single Draco-is-not-related-to-us moment they had before the wedding.

The conversation soon turned toward the topic of future grandchildren.

Both women were absolutely ecstatic with the idea of becoming grandmothers.

"I think I'll want the children to address me as 'Nana'," said Molly smiling as she turned happily toward her daughter.

"'Grandmother' would be perfectly fine for me." Narcissa smiled as well.

Ginny couldn't help but return the women's smiles with one of her own. It was nice to know that they not only approved of her and Draco's engagement, but were also looking forward to seeing the grandchildren she would give them.

"I wonder what you'll have first," wondered Molly.

"It'll be a son," said Narcissa in a matter of fact tone.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Molly raised a brow.

"The Malfoy eldest is always a son, it's the way it has always been. In fact, if Draco and Ginny have more than one, I'm sure they'll all be healthy boys."

"What makes you so sure I won't have a daughter?" Ginny asked curiously.

"The Malfoys haven't given birth to a daughter for so long, it's ridiculous. But if you do have a girl, then you and Draco will have quite a lot on your hands," Narcissa spoke with her ever present even tone.

"How so?" asked Ginny.

"The Malfoys, Ginevra, are an illustrious line. Any family who is concerned about purity and power of blood would gladly kill one of their own daughters just to win the honour of having their son marry a female Malfoy," Narcissa said as if it were obvious. "The same as many families felt about you when you were born."

"I—," Ginny immediately turned her eyes toward her mother.

Molly gave Ginny a small smile.

"Did you ever wonder why Draco's fellow Slytherins were not at all upset about you two being together?" Narcissa asked.

"Well, yes. But I just…" Ginny trailed off, confusion etched into her features.

"Despite any animosity that anyone holds toward your family, it is absolutely impossible and ludicrous to deny how valuable you would be in a continuation of a pure blood line. This new generation is under this absurd false impression that sons are all that matter to pureblooded families. What they fail to see is that pure daughters are becoming scarcer and scarcer as we speak. You can't maintain a bloodline if there are no women to give birth to heirs. Your family is one of the oldest families in the Wizarding world. Whether or not they'd like to admit it, many of those Slytherins' fathers would have been happy to have you marry one of their sons."

Ginny didn't know what to say to Narcissa's words. She always wondered why the Slytherins, even Pansy Parkinson, weren't as vicious to her as they were toward her brother, Harry, and Hermione, and for the rest of her house for that matter.

Her brothers, as expected, threw a fit when the two Weasley women arrived home with the fabulous news of where they were going to spend that year's Christmas Eve.

"Mum, why do we have to be dragged into this?" asked George.

"Yeah, it's bad enough that we're going to be related to that git against our will. Why do we have to eat dinner with him, too?" Ron supported George.

At the sound of Ron's voice, the twins immediately went red, and turned to glare at their youngest brother. The twins, though unable to vocally admit it, knew that it had been Ron's fault that Ginny was put into the hospital wing all those weeks back, and they, as of yet, had been unable to forgive him.

In the end, her mother made her brothers promise to at least show up for dinner and be the utmost polite in the presence of Ginny's future mother-in-law.

Christmas Eve at the Manor had, so far, turned out much better than Ginny had thought it would.

Her brothers had lived up to their promise. They had showed up to dinner, dressed in their best robes—they would have been damned before inflating Malfoy's ego to a size bigger than it already was by wearing the raggedy clothes that he had, in the past, associated the Weasley name with. Her brothers had been surprised at how Narcissa was very much unlike her husband, and were genuinely polite to her, between their glares at Draco, of course.

After dinner, Narcissa suggested that all the men move into another parlour to discuss wizarding politics or what not. At the idea of having to spend more time with Draco Malfoy than what was necessary, the six Weasley sons immediately made up excuses to leave early.

Arthur and Harry stayed back, and they were now seated somewhere in the Manor with Draco discussing whatever it was that wizards discussed—though Ginny had a nagging feeling that she was the topic of that particular conversation. Ginny, of course, assumed right.

Now, Narcissa, Molly, and Ginny were seated in the same tea parlour that they had spent the past weekends in making preparations for the wedding.

"Damien."

Narcissa and Ginny turned their heads to look at Molly questioningly.

"That'd be a nice name for a boy, no? There's also Michael."

Ginny scrunched up her nose in dislike, "Too generic."

"Christos?" Molly offered again.

Ginny shook her head, "No. I want something at least semi-British."

"Well, what about Harry?" Molly asked hopefully.

"No," Narcissa answered firmly.

"Albus?"

"No," this time it was Ginny who spoke.

"Marcel," Narcissa enunciated. "Marcel Malfoy. It's perfect, don't you think," she continued, turning expectedly to her companions.

"Marcel. I like that. What do you think, mum?" Ginny turned her eyes toward her mother.

"Marcel Malfoy. I think I like the sound of that, too," Molly nodded. "Now for a girl. Mary?"

Ginny shook her head.

"Victoria? Emma? Diana? Bonnie? Hermione?" Each one of Molly's suggestions was met with a shake of a head. The last, however, was met with a resounding 'No'.

There was a long pause before Molly's eyes brightened and she said delicately, "Evelyn." At that, Narcissa and Ginny took one look at each other and then turned to look at Molly.

"_Evelyn Malfoy_. That sounds beautiful," smiled Narcissa.

"Yes, it does," agreed Ginny.

Time gradually passed by, and soon enough, it was time to leave.

It was agreed that Narcissa and Draco would Apparate to the Burrow at precisely seven in the morning on Christmas Day.

Before they left the Manor, however, while Molly had taken Harry, Draco, and Arthur aside, Narcissa had led Ginny to her own chambers. It was there that Narcissa took out a beautiful white wedding gown. It was strapless and sleek, and an elaborate design of white beads adorned the ends of the floor-length gown. It was simple, yet elegant—just what Ginny wanted.

"I knew you'd like it," whispered Narcissa.

"I love it," responded Ginny, softly

"That's what I told Lucius' mother when she had offered it to me."

"This was your wedding gown?" Ginny asked with a mixture of surprise and honour.

"This gown has been passed down among the Malfoy women for centuries. It's been modified a bit, being made strapless and all, but it is essentially the same as it always has been."

Ginny simply stared at the gown, in awe of its beauty.

"I know we haven't even brought of the issue of your wedding gown, yet. But finding the right wedding gown will be of the utmost importance."

Ginny nodded, still unable to take her eyes off of the gown.

"This gown is merely an option, Ginevra. A fall back plan, if you will. The gown is yours, but whether or not you choose it to be your wedding gown, is a different matter."

The next morning, Ron walked down stairs to meet with the rather uncomfortable scene of Draco Malfoy standing in his own living room.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing here?" Ron muttered as he sauntered his way across the living room toward the kitchen.

"If you'd recall, I was invited. Or has the pitiful little peanut that you try so desperately to pass as a brain, finally burst?" Draco sneered. Draco had to remind himself every day why he was choosing to gain six brothers who wanted to kill him, were annoying, or were a good combination of both.

Ron opened his mouth to retort, but immediately shut it as Molly and Narcissa entered the room from the kitchen. Instead he smiled and said, "Good morning, mum. Good morning, Mrs. Malfoy," and walked into the kitchen.

Molly watched her youngest son enter the kitchen before turning to Draco. "Ginny must still be asleep. Why don't you go up and wake her, Draco?" Molly smiled to Draco.

Draco accepted the offer, and after Mrs. Weasley told him where Ginny's room was, he left to wake his sleeping beauty—preferably with a nice kiss.

(A/N: Reviews are a beautiful thing.)


	29. Chapter 29: End

Hi guys,

Well, for all of those who've read book six: I hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to have to admit that the reason why it's been so long since I last updated "The Baby's Got A Secret" is because I've been suffering from a terrible case of writer's block. I had thought that with the release of book six I would've had a fresh burst of inspiration, but it didn't work out that way at all. I'm sure all those who've read the new book understand what I mean by saying that. So I'm informing you all, my faithful readers, that I will no longer be continuing the story. I will, however, continue to write D/G fiction, only now I will have to write so that they coincide with book six as well as the first five.

Initially, I had written the story because I had always wondered what the exact emotions of the trio would be in the event that Ginny and Draco began to date. And I think that I have been able to explore that to a very good degree. I also think that if I left the story as is, it'd still be a great story. For those who are wondering what happened after--I did have an outline of what was to come, but I didn't know how to go writing it. So for those who'd like the outline of the rest of the story, had I decided to continue it, then here it is:

(Continues directly off of the last chapter)

Cut to Hogsmeade weekend in Spring

-Ginny, Narcissa, Molly, and Hermione are out in London looking at Wedding Gowns

-Ginny and Hermione smile as they watch Narcissa and Molly argue sisterly about what Ginny should wear

-Hermione and Narcissa go to the back to see the dresses there

-Molly and Ginny have a little chat

-Lucius Malfoy shows up

-Shares his distain for Ginny out loud

-He pulls out his wand and aims the avada kedavra curse right at her

-Narcissa comes out of no where to take the hit instead

-Lucius freezes, along with Hermione, Ginny, and Molly

-Lucius realizes that he killed his own wife and reflects on this before coming back to his stubborn self and blaming what happened on Ginny

-He is just about to throw the crutiaus curse (sp?...the unforgivable one) when he is stunned by three people--Hermione, Arthur, and Charley

Cut to Trio's graduation

-Reflection on what happened, in everyone's view

The struggle of secrecy, acceptance, eventual unity, loss

-Hopes of what to come

EPILOGUE

Cut to Draco and Ginny's Wedding...after Gin's graduation

-Instead of buying a wedding gown

-Ginny wears the certain specially wedding gown that Narcissa had shown her

-Slytherins as well as Gryffindors show up

Cut to Draco and Ginny's first child

-A son, Marcel

Cut to Draco and Ginny's second child

-A daughter, Narcissa Evelyn

Cut to little Narcissa's fifth year

-Narcissa, a Slytherin looks across the hall to a Gyrffindor who's last name is Longbottom

---THANKS FOR BEING SUCH GREAT READERS.

-Katherine


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